Just Know You're Not Alone
by captainpezberry
Summary: Paige McCullers is returning to Rosewood. Who knew that her return would shake everything up and that nothing would be the same after that. (Totally AU, probably.) Rated M for language and the fact they talk about murder and the potential for things getting dirty because who knows right?
1. Friday

A/N: I started writing this after 7x05 when Noel returned at the end of the episode. I am in no way privvy to any inside information about what is going to happen in the show. I have not read spoilers or anything else. All I know is Paige McCullers is coming back so I wanted to write her return my way before it really happened. Anything in the story that pertains to the A.D. storyline and any other characters is simply just made up from my own mind. Please don't take this as a serious look into the future of the show and, if you're reading this after everything has aired, I know that unless I'm suddenly pychic it is completely AU. Now, enjoy!

"Okay people, let's make this quick. Listen up!" Ashley Marin called out, clapping a few times to gain the attention of the room full of employees she stood in front of in the smallest conference room The Radley had to offer. "As you all know, or should by now at least, this weekend is the biggest event we have seen in the history of The Radley since it's conversion into a hotel. Every room is booked solid all weekend long and the majority of them are paying top dollar. So everyone needs to be sharp. Everything needs to be done quickly, efficiently, and with a smile on your face. These are people I know, people who know me and what I have been through, so I would personally like to see a few of them put in their places." She let herself smirk for just a moment at the last of her comment.

A hand went up and when Ashley motioned for the owner to speak, one of the newer girls on staff spoke up "What exactly is going on, again?"

Ashley gave a nod and looked at her, then the rest of the room, before answering "It is a wedding anniversary and family reunion all rolled into one. This family spent a large part of their lives in Rosewood before moving away and they've decided to come back to celebrate and bring the entire clan with them this time. So, everyone, be on your best behavior. Any problems, report directly to me as soon as humanly possible. Got it?"

As the staff nodded in unison, Ashley smiled. She drew in a deep breath then waved her hands for everyone to move out of the room and on their way. As the room slowly emptied, Ashley turned her back to everyone, closed her eyes, and let out a slow breath. She remembered how everyone treated her after things with Hanna's father and herself didn't pan out. This family with their religious background were particularly judgmental toward her. She was both nervous and excited for this weekend. She hoped that even though they had been married for so long they could see that divorce wasn't the end of a woman.

Ashley moved out of the conference room a few moments later and toward the bar where Emily was finishing up her shift. Even when a staff meeting is called, not all staff members can attend because a hotel was always full of guests needing things. So now Ashley had the joy of tracking everyone down and reminding them how important this weekend was individually. Emily, of course, was the most important of them all in her eyes considering the past she held with this particular family.

"Emily?" Ashley said softly, waiting until Emily looked up from what she was doing before giving her a smile. "A word?"

Emily's brow creased in concern as she set the towel she had been using to clean down and moved toward the end of the bar where Ashley stood. She smoothed a hand over her white pressed button up and the suspenders she wore as uniform in a nervous habit before settling it on top of the bar casually "Is everything alright, Ms. Marin?"

"Please" Ashley let out a soft laugh "We've known each other how long? Call me Ashley."

Emily blushed softly and shrugged her shoulders "You are my boss. It's a sign of respect, Ms. Marin."

Ashley held a warm, fond smile for the girl that had been her daughter's best friend for so many years and nodded "Fair enough. So long as you call me Ashley whenever you're not on my clock."

"Deal" Emily gave her a bright smile. She then quickly remembered she had been asked for a word, by her boss, and her smile faded. "You wanted a word?"

"Oh, right" Ashley's smile held but faded just slightly. She glanced around before reaching out to place a hand lightly against Emily's where it was resting on the bar top. "I'm not sure if you've heard what is happening this weekend..."

Emily nodded "Big event. Anniversary and reunion sort of thing, right?"

Ashley gave one nod "Yes, exactly. Are you going to be okay with that?"

Emily gave her a confused perk of an eyebrow and a slightly amused smile "I think I can handle a bunch of people who would rather drink than spend time with their extended family."

Ashley's face fell into a bit of a concerned look and she tilted her head to the side "You haven't heard whose family it is?"

Emily's face fell now too. Her head immediately whirled with a million possibilities. Of the hundreds of people who had come and gone through Rosewood over the years, the myriad of family members that could cause concern from Ashley were nearly endless. Before Emily could ask, though, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"Nice suspenders."

Emily's heart jumped into her throat, punched her tonsils, then body slammed back into her chest. Her eyes went wide and she froze on the spot. Of all the ghost in her past, this was the last one she expected to come back for a haunting. She wasn't sure how long she had stood frozen but eventually she somehow managed to regain control of her body and slowly turn around toward the voice. When her eyes fell upon the face of the metaphorical ghost, she almost couldn't believe it. It was as if the voice had somehow been a prank but the face made it real. She gave her head a shake and her shocked look fell into a smile without her even realizing it "Paige?"

Paige McCullers, in that suave little way about her, lifted the corner of her lip into a smirk and gave a single nod "Surprise?"

Emily let out a laugh, nodding just once as the shock and horror of a split second ago faded and was filled with that thing that only Paige gave her. Relief. Light. Weightlessness. "Surprise is an understatement."

Paige laughed now too. Hearing Emily's laugh was like a breath of fresh air and all nervousness she had been building about this trip back home suddenly faded. "Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are when my folks said we were coming back here this year."

Emily nodded, unable to keep her eyes off of the pleasant blast from the past. She lifted her hand to motion for Paige to hold on just a moment "I was literally about to clock out. Hold on like two minutes and I'll be done here."

Paige gave a nod, unable to wipe the smile from her lips now. "My timing has gotten so much better over the years."

Emily let out a laugh, shaking her head in amusement as she headed toward the computer where she would clock out from her shift. "Have a seat?" She motioned toward the chairs in the lobby of the hotel in front of the bar. "I'll be right back."

"Take your time" Paige said with a shrug as her hands tucked into the pockets of the slacks she wore. She didn't move until Emily disappeared into the back where, presumably, she had all of her belongings that she stored there during her shift. Once Emily was out of sight, Paige let out a happy sigh and moved to take a seat in one of the overly plush chairs. She had been terrified of seeing Emily. She had also known it was an inevitability so she had plucked up the courage to just come say hi and get the awkwardness over with. Surprisingly enough, it had been anything but awkward. So far. They did still have an entire weekend of running into each other to make things awkward.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Wow, thirty years?" Emily shook her head in disbelief and let out a very soft laugh. "I can't even imagine that."

"I know, right?" Paige grinned at the girl sitting on the plush chair next to her own. They hadn't even made it out of The Radley. Emily had clocked out, grabbed her things, and joined Paige in the chairs in the lobby of the hotel and they had started chatting. "I mean I haven't even been alive for that long. It seems like a lifetime."

"Quite literally" Emily nodded, giggling softly. "What I don't understand is why they would come back here? I mean, it's been thirty years why not go crazy and go to Paris or something?"

Paige rolled her eyes as she answered the question, one she had posed to her parents already "They said they built their lives here and wanted to come back to where it all began, so to speak. They met here, they fell in love here, they got married here." She shrugged slightly and waved a hand to the side "Plus a lot of the family is still in this general area so they thought they would make it easy for everyone to get together. I, personally, think they wanted to be the center of attention and this was the easiest way to do so."

Emily let out a soft laugh at that and nodded "Yeah, that kind of sounds exactly like them."

"Right?" Paige laughed softly. "So, you know, why not just have the entire McCullers group come and take over for a while."

"So everyone is staying here?" Emily perked an eyebrow at that, glancing around the lobby. That is when she realized there were tons of people lingering around and that a good portion of those people were probably Paige's relatives. She looked back over at Paige and shrugged "Did your parents sell the house?"

Paige gave a single nod and her smile faded for the first time since seeing Emily behind the bar. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly "Yeah. About two years ago they made the decision that California was now home so they finally sold the house as a way of cutting the final ties to Rosewood, I guess?"

Emily shook her head, her brows creasing together with a bit of sadness behind them "But why? I thought California was, you know, a temporary solution for all of the..." She faded off, glancing around again before shaking her head. She looked back at Paige and shrugged "Rosewood is fairly safe now. Plus, you're an adult now."

"I also don't live in California with them anymore" Paige said with a shrug. When she saw the surprised look on Emily's face, she shrugged "I couldn't stay. It never felt like home to me, even throughout all of college."

Emily gave a soft nod. She recalled when she had run into Paige a couple years ago in California and wondered now what she had been doing there. She didn't get to ask though. She opened her mouth to ask but was cut off.

"Em! There you are!" Spencer rushed over, looking a little wide eyed and panicked. She stared down at her and drew in a deep breath before giving an exasperated shrug "We have been calling you!"

"I'm sorry" Emily turned around in her chair, sitting up straight now and shaking her head. "I lost track of time and-"

"What in the world have you been doing? You got off an hour ago and we need to-" Spencer's eyes lifted from glaring at Emily as she scolded her and landed on Paige. Her words stopped dead on her lips. A very soft smile lifted on the corner of her lip and she tilted her head to the side "Paige?"

Paige bit at her lower lip and she lifted her hand in a weak little wave "Hi, Spencer."

"What are you doing here?"

Paige motioned around the hotel lobby where they sat and shrugged slightly "Call me crazy..." She paused to let her pun soak in, since Radley had once been a sanatorium, but quickly realized it had been out of line and continued on in a quick mumble "I had some family stuff come up."

Spencer gave one nod, one eyebrow seemingly stapled high on her forehead in an arch, and let out a soft huff of a laugh "Well, it's nice to see you." Her eyes dropped from Paige and looked down to Emily now and gave her head a shake "Sorry to interrupt but..." She pointed at her watch and her eyes got wide as she silently tried to remind Emily they had somewhere else to be "Appointment?"

Emily nodded and quickly stood from the chair where she had been sitting. She slid her purse strap over her shoulder and turned to look back at Paige "I'm so sorry, I have to go. But we will catch up this weekend, okay? I mean, I work here so I can't really avoid seeing you even if I tried." She let out a laugh then quickly realized that could have been taken the wrong way and shook her head "Not that I would try."

Paige nodded and let out a soft laugh as she stood from the chair too "Don't worry, even if you did try I wouldn't make it easy to avoid me, alright?" She hit Emily with her signature smirk and shrugged just one shoulder "I'll catch up with you later, Em." Her eyes shifted and she looked at Spencer over Emily's shoulder, giving her another wave "It was good to see you again. Maybe we can all get together sometime this weekend?"

"Sure" Spencer nodded but looked back at Emily and motioned toward the door "The girls are outside. Let's go."

"Bye" Emily offered another wave to Paige before she was tugged by her arm toward the door by Spencer. She nearly tripped over her feet and let out a huff when she finally righted herself to face the door "Spencer, jeez. You nearly pulled my bones out of my skin."

"We're late, Emily." Spencer grumbled softly. "Jenna isn't going to wait for.." She used air quotes around the name "Archer" as she spoke it "forever. We need to catch her now before they have time to hide everything."

"I know" Emily grumbled as they hit the curb where Hanna and Aria were sitting waiting in the car. She was finally released by Spencer and got the chance to smooth herself out and compose herself. As she shifted her purse, she realized she didn't have her phone. She looked up at the girls, Spencer having already gotten into the car, and held up her finger "My phone. I'll be right back."

"Oh my god" Spencer rolled her eyes and folded her arms as she fell back against the seat. She was already annoyed that they were so behind schedule.

Emily turned and jogged back into the hotel only to be greeted right at the door by Paige. Her eyes went wide as she saw the phone in Paige's hand and she smiled very softly at the fact that Paige had been willing to chase her out to make sure she had her phone "Thank you. If I had forgotten it I wouldn't haven heard the last of it from Spencer."

Paige's brows knitted together into a frown and she let out a sigh "Is everything okay, Em?"

"Yeah" Emily lied poorly as she took the phone from Paige's hand.

Paige folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. She wouldn't push Emily. She knew her well enough and had been through enough with her to know that if Emily thought she needed help she would ask. Until then, she would just stand by and watch over her when she could. "I'm here for you if you need me, okay?"

"Always the hero" Emily mumbled softly as she turned to leave. "Bye, Paige."

Paige bit the insides of her cheeks to hold back a frown. She was going to pretend she hadn't heard Emily's snide remark. She just watched Emily jog back down to the car and get in. As the car drove away, Paige shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. She knew the four of them well enough to know that something was up. She was going to make sure they didn't get into more trouble than they obviously already were in. As well as she knew Emily, she had grown to know her friends too and she knew they were up to their old ways. It was funny how going back to your childhood home could throw you back into a time warp of childlike behaviors.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"But why would Jenna pretend that Archer is still alive if she knew otherwise?" Aria asked with a shrug of her shoulders. The four girls had gone to their so called appointment and were now gathered in Lucas' loft to go over everything that had happened.

"It's the same game A and uber A and A.D. and Red Coat and whoever else we've faced over the years likes to play. Let's play dumb until the girls shoot themselves in the foot" Spencer rolled her eyes as she lifted the glass of wine to her lips.

"It doesn't add up" Hanna shook her head with a sigh. "It would be so easy to get whatever she's after if she just turned us in. She obviously has enough evidence against us. Her over confidence in her texts tells us that."

"But what does she want?" Aria asked with a shrug. "None of this makes any sense."

A soft knock came to the loft door just then and all of the girls looked at each other with wide, panic filled eyes before looking at the door. They all stared at it as if looking hard enough would allow it to become see through and reveal who was on the other side. None of them were expecting anyone and if it were Lucas he would just walk in considering it was his loft, after all.

Finally, after what seemed like a day but was only a few seconds, Aria got up off the couch and headed to the door.

"Aria, wait" Spencer sat up quickly.

"What?" Aria said with a shrug. "Who could it possibly be? If it's the cops, not answering will look suspicious."

Spencer nodded at the logic in that. They did still have to act as normal as possible, especially if it were the police. She motioned for Aria to go ahead.

As Aria reached for the door, all of the girls sat up a little more straight on the couches. Their eyes were glued to the door. Emily reached over and grabbed a hold of Hanna's sleeve, her heart racing in her throat. She had really missed the days where a text or a knock on a door didn't send her into a near coronary.

Aria slid the door open and stepped back in surprise. She stared at the visitor on the other side of the door before letting out a relieved laugh "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry to intrude. I just really needed to talk to Emily for a moment if possible?"

"Paige?" Emily let go of Hanna and immediately stood from the couch. Spencer and Hanna both looked at Emily, fighting off smirks, as relief filled their faces as well.

"I'm so sorry" Paige looked immediately apologetic as she stepped into the doorway now. She bit her lower lip and pushed her hands into the pockets of the light leather jacket she wore. "Did I interrupt something..." She looked around the loft at all four of the girls staring at her and frowned "...important?"

"Nope. Just a girls' night in" Hanna said quickly, giving Paige a wide grin. "But you can borrow Em for some girl time."

Emily rolled her eyes and looked back at Hanna. She gave her a silent scolding by scowling at her before turning back to Paige. She walked over to the door and put her hand against Paige's arm. "Let's just step into the hallway?"

Paige nodded quickly and as they moved out of the door and into the hall, she gave a shy wave to the remaining girls in the loft.

Once they were in the hallway, Emily pulled the door closed and she looked at Paige softly, but with a bit of annoyed curiosity behind her eyes "How did you know I was here?"

"I asked Hanna's mom. I'm so sorry" Paige apologized, again. "I honestly didn't want to be a bother but I had something I really needed to ask you." She bit at her lip nervously, glancing back behind Emily to the closed door of the loft before shrugging and letting out a sigh "You know what, forget it. I feel bad I broke up whatever was going on in there."

"It's fine" Emily said softly, her hand reaching out to lay against Paige's arm. She offered her a very genuine, gentle smile and gave her a nod "To be honest I kind of needed a break from what's going on in there."

Paige frowned slightly. Emily looked tired. She didn't look tired in the way that someone looks when they've just had a long day or didn't sleep much the night before. She looked exhausted. She looked like every fiber in her being was being used and abused and hadn't been given any relief. She looked tired in the way she used to look tired whenever A had been up to something in high school. Her hand moved now and she lightly lifted it to take hold of the one that Emily had placed against her arm "Is everything okay, Em?"

"Stop asking me that" Emily grumbled and pulled her hand away from Paige. It wasn't a fierce tug, it didn't even hold much strength, but it slipped away from her either way.

"Why?" Paige shrugged and gave her head a shake. "What are you so afraid to tell me?"

Emily drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She shook her head a few times then dropped her eyes away from Paige to her feet "I don't want to have to lie to you. I don't want to ruin your trip back home to celebrate your parents. I don't want you to worry."

Paige's frowned turned into a soft, caring smile and she lifted her hand to rest it against Emily's shoulder "You know how great I am at worrying, though."

Emily couldn't help but let out a soft breath of a laugh. Her eyes lifted from her feet back to Paige's face. When she saw the soft, caring look on her face, the one she liked to pretend was reserved only for her, she smiled "But you shouldn't have to worry about me anymore."

Paige shrugged and gave her hand a wave to the side as if batting away Emily's concern for her "I like to worry about you. It's my favorite hobby."

"Oh jeez" Emily rolled her eyes and gave Paige's shoulder a light shove "Good to see you're still as cheesy as ever."

Paige let out a laugh and lifted her hands up as if she were surrendering. "You caught me" She said with a grin which she held for just a moment before dropping her hands and her smile. Her brows once more knitted in concern and her voice lowered again "But, really, Em you know you can talk to me."

Emily drew in a deep breath again. She hated everything that was happening. She hated that she had gotten sucked into a whirlwind of insanity within just moments of returning to Rosewood. She hated that the peaceful life she had lived for five years was gone again so quickly. Mostly, she hated that here Paige was, concerned for her within two seconds of them running into one another when she should be happy and focused on her family. Her head shook and her eyes shifted down to her feet again "Paige, I-"

"Look" Paige interrupted, her hands lifting now to lightly grab hold of Emily on each of her shoulders. It wasn't a hard grip, but enough to draw Emily's attention back to her so she would listen and know she meant what she was about to say "You're worried about lying to me? You already have. You're worried my trip will be ruined?" She smiled softly at that and shook her head "My parents weren't the reason I decided to come." She bit her lip nervously at that but continued on "And you're worried I'll worry? Em, something is up with you so I'm already worried. So, please, talk to me."

Emily shuttered. She physically trembled in Paige's hands at the words she spoke with such conviction. She had no idea how, or why, but Paige had always had the ability to swoop in right when she needed her most and put her at ease. It was like a super power she possessed and Emily hadn't realized how much she had missed it, or needed it, until that moment.

Before Emily could say anything, though, the door to the loft was opening and Spencer was standing there. She looked at the girls in the hallway together and offered a forced smile at Paige "I'm sorry but I need to borrow Emily back."

"It's fine" Paige said with a shake of her head as she let her hands drop from Emily's arms. She glanced at Emily and shrugged "I'll just catch you later."

"No, wait" Emily reached out to put a hand on Paige's arm to stop her. She turned to look at Spencer and gave her a glare that told her to back off for a moment before looking back at Paige "You came here for a reason, right?"

"It's nothing" Paige waved it off and took a step back out of Emily's touch. She lifted her hand again to wave at Spencer and this time offered a sincere smile "So sorry to interrupt. I'll see you girls later."

"Paige" Emily stepped away from the door where Spencer still stood and once more put her hand on Paige's arm. She gripped lightly and pulled her a few feet down the hallway so that Spencer was out of ear shot before she frowned slightly "We'll talk later, I promise. They just really need me right now."

"I get it" Paige said with a firm nod. "I know, okay? Something is happening and I'm on the outside just like old times. You girls need to figure out whatever it is and when you decide you need help.." She shrugged and offered a weak smile "..well you know where I'll be."

Emily nodded. Her heart hurt a little. The way Paige spoke so honestly broke her slightly. She hadn't known that Paige had felt so excluded in the past. She had avoided telling her about A in high school for so long because she didn't want her in danger. Then when Paige had finally been told she had been so terrified it had nearly broken the bravest person Emily had ever met. But things were different now and, to be quite honest, she was glad Paige was standing there calling them all out. "Like I said, we will talk later, okay?"

"Fine" Paige said with a single, emotionless nod.

"But" Emily said softly, letting her hand slide away from Paige "You came here to ask me something?"

"It's stupid, forget it." Paige waved her off again. "Look, go do your thing. When you want to talk, you have my number."

Emily frowned at Paige's demeanor. She looked like a beaten puppy. She had no idea how Emily brushing her off to take care of this stupid A.D. drama would have affected her. But she needed to get back in the loft because something important had obviously developed. So she stepped back from Paige and nodded "I'll call."

"Okay" Paige gave her a tight lipped smile then turned to head down the hallway.

"I promise" Emily called after her but Paige didn't turn around. She just lifted her hand up giving a half hearted wave over her shoulder before she disappeared around the corner at the end of the hall. Emily let out a heavy sigh and turned around back toward the loft. When she saw Spencer still standing there, her brows furrowed in anger and she shook her head "Was that really necessary?"

"What?" Spencer motioned down the hall to where Paige had disappeared. "What is she even doing here, Em? Don't you think it's kind of suspicious that she shows up the same day that so called A.D.-"

"Don't you dare" Emily cut her off in a growl as she stormed passed Spencer back into the loft. "Don't you even think it. How many times have you pointed the finger in that direction? How many times have you been wrong? I thought you two were friends?"

"We are!" Spencer shut the door to the loft then followed Emily back to the couches. "But how many of our friends have turned out to be anything but?"

"Not Paige" Emily said ferociously. "Never Paige. You have accused her and been cold to her and snooped in her stuff and at the end of the day she has saved us all in some way." She turned to look at the other girls who were watching them bicker intently. She turned back to Spencer and motioned at her with her hand "She's physically saved you personally, Spencer. How can you even think that about her? You think her parents planned this whole fake anniversary and family reunion as a cover for their daughter to come back to a place they fled because they were terrified for her safety just so she could finally play out the evil scheme she put in motion nearly a decade ago?"

Spencer dropped her head in visible shame. Aria and Hanna shook their heads as Spencer let out a sigh and put a hand to her forehead. She looked back up at Emily and dropped her hand with a slap to her thigh "I'm sorry, Em. Old habits die hard and I'm so paranoid right now I'm not even sure I trust myself."

"Well get your shit together" Emily growled before plopping down on the couch next to Hanna. She grabbed for the wine she had been drinking and quickly downed the rest of it. She drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out in a heavy sigh. Her eyes lifted back to Spencer and she shrugged just once "Now, what was so important that you needed me back in here immediately?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

As Paige rounded the corner of the path that led to the dock, she drew in a deep breath. She had no idea why she was here. She should follow Emily's advise and just enjoy her weekend with her family but she couldn't. Her family was fine. Her parents were happily married and her uncles and aunts were as obnoxious as ever. Besides, she wasn't in Rosewood for her family. She had decided to make the trip once she had heard Emily was in town. So, here she was, on the dock near the lake approaching the sitting form of Emily Fields.

As footsteps sounded behind her, Emily turned from where she sat on the end of the dock dangling her feet near the water. She gave a relieved smile when she saw Paige. She had honestly doubted whether or not Paige would show up considering the way she had sulked away from the loft earlier that day. She didn't say anything. She just scooted over to make room for Paige to join her once she stood above her.

Paige dropped to sit next to Emily without hesitation. She stared at her feet above the water for only a split second before lifting her eyes to the girl beside her. Somehow, in the soft glow of the moon reflecting off the lake and onto Emily's face, Paige suddenly felt like she was back in high school. Her heart did a flip and she couldn't stand to look at Emily any longer in fear that she might do something stupid so she dipped her head to hide the little smile that had risen on her lips.

"I'm glad you came" Emily whispered to break the silence that had filled the space around the lake. Even the bugs seemed to have been holding their breaths during Paige's approach because not a sound had registered to Emily's ear until she had spoken.

"Always the hero, right?" Paige mumbled slightly playfully as her eyes lifted to look at Emily again.

"I'm sorry" Emily spoke still in a whisper. There was no real need to speak any louder. "I'm just so-"

"It's fine" Paige cut her off gently. "You have a lot going on and when you have a lot going on you like to push people away and the only way you know how to do that is to be a little bit mean to those people you push." Paige smiled and reached out to put a hand on Emily's leg "I've gotten really good at realizing when you're being cruel and when you're protecting me."

Emily blushed softly at that. It amazed her how well Paige still understood her. It made her stomach do a flip. Somehow Paige was sitting here and simultaneously unnerving her and calming her without even trying. "I'm still sorry."

Paige nodded just once. Her hand on Emily's leg gave a squeeze before she pulled it back and brought it to rest on her own lap. Her eyes left Emily and she looked out over the lake. A soft smile came over her lips as a memory filled her mind "Remember the birthday party I tried to throw for you here? What a disaster."

Emily laughed at that softly "It was nice. The disaster was you setting me up with a swim coach who had no idea I was injured and getting my hopes up that I'd swim again."

"Yeah" Paige let out a soft laugh at that "My heart was in the right place but that really was a stupid idea looking back on it." She shrugged and looked over at Emily with a smile "Hindsight, they say."

"It was sweet" Emily reached out and put a hand on Paige's shoulder. "You were always so sweet."

Paige blushed now and shook her head as she looked away from Emily again. It physically pained her to look at Emily's smile sometimes, especially when it came to the two of them reminiscing about their past together. "So" She decided to change the subject as quickly as possible "As you know my parents are doing a vow renewal thing for their anniversary."

"I did" Emily said with a nod. "It's literally the only thing people talk about at work."

Paige let out a laugh and glanced at Emily "Sorry about that." She let her eyes linger on Emily a moment before it became too much again and she looked back over the lake "Anyway, their little reception party thing afterwards is in the park next to the church where they got married and are doing the renewal and I was wondering if, you know, you'd like to come and help distract me from my family."

Emily bit back the smile that wanted to take over her features. Paige had definitely gotten more bold and less subtle over the years when it came to asking for time with Emily but the way she had put it was still very sweet and innocent. She licked at her lips and let out a soft sigh "I can't."

Paige, honestly, hadn't expected that. She frowned and turned to look back at Emily now. She chewed her lip nervously for a moment, fighting off the look of pure disappointment on her face and offering a fake brave nod of her head "Okay, that's cool then."

"No, no, no" Emily let out a soft laugh and reached out to grab Paige's arm, afraid the girl would flee out of embarrassment. When Paige didn't move, Emily offered a sad but slightly amused smile "I can't because I'm working. The Radley is catering the party and guess who has to be the one to get everyone drunk?"

"Oh" Paige let out a breath that held relief that she hadn't been completely shot down. "Oh!" She exclaimed a bit more loudly now that it all set in "I can't believe I didn't even think of that. Of course you'd be working. This is a huge weekend for you. A lot of tips and what not."

Emily nodded as her hand slid off of Paige's arm "But trust me, had I known it was your family I would have totally asked for it off."

"Why?" Paige let out a soft laugh.

"Because" Emily gave her a coy, knowing smile and a playful shrug of her shoulders. "I had a feeling I would be invited eventually."

Paige blushed so hard and so fast there was no avoiding it. Her head dipped again so she didn't have to watch Emily's triumphant little smirk fill her face. She hated how predictable she had become to Emily. Even after all the years apart Emily had faith Paige would have wanted to hang out with her at her family event. Damn, she needed to change up her game.

"It's sweet" Emily whispered, trying to sooth her, sliding closer to Paige now as if she could read the thoughts going on in her head. "Like I said, you have always been so sweet."

Paige rolled her eyes at that and finally looked back up at Emily. When she realized how close the girl had moved to her, she felt her heart jump into her throat. She licked at her lips and let out a breath as she spoke "Do you like when I'm sweet?"

Emily licked her lips as well, her eyes flickering from looking at Paige's eyes to her lips and back again. She gave a slight nod and before she could think about it she was leaning in toward Paige, her eyes now only focused on her lips.

Paige's heart jumped again as Emily moved closer. Another lick was given to her lips and as if it were a habit she leaned in as well, slowly closing the small gap that remained between them.

Just before their lips could touch, Emily's phone chimed loudly with a text. Both girls nearly jumped out of their skin at the unexpected noise. Emily put a hand to her chest, feeling her heart pounding against her ribs. She was sure half of it was because of the start she had just been given but the other half was caused by Paige. She bit at her lip shyly as she reached for her phone "I'm sorry" she whispered.

Paige just let out a soft laugh and shook her head as she motioned for Emily to go ahead. She licked at her lips and turned her eyes out over the lake. She let her lids drop for a moment and drew in a few breaths to calm herself. She couldn't believe how close they had been. She would have never expected that to have happened, if she was being honest.

When Emily read the text that had appeared, her brows creased together. She let out a sigh and looked back at Paige "I-"

"Have to go" Paige finished and nodded. She quickly got to her feet and offered a hand down to help Emily up as well. When Emily was at full height, Paige gave her hand a squeeze and frowned slightly "Are you okay?"

Emily shook her head. She licked at her lips and looked down at her phone "I don't even know where to begin."

Paige's heart twisted. Emily had that look on her face. That same look she got every single time A had been torturing her in high school. She straightened up and looked at the phone in Emily's hand "It's happening again, isn't it?"

"Kind of?" Emily shrugged, still at a loss for real words. "It's such a mess, Paige. I don't even know how it all began."

"Just take a breath" Paige said gently. She once more gave Emily's hand a squeeze and offered her a calming smile "Start from the first text."

"I can't" Emily motioned over her shoulder "I have to go."

"Fill me in on the ride over" Paige said with a firm nod. She refused to let go of Emily's hand now.

"Paige, I-"

"No" Paige shook her head firmly. She gave her hand a tug and started to lead Emily off of the dock. "I'm here now, okay? I might not be directly involved but I'm in it now. You can't avoid this any longer. I want to help. I probably need to help. So let me."

Emily chewed her lip as they reached the car. She paused and thought it over for a moment. When she looked back at Paige and the stern, unwavering look of strength and bravery on her face, she gave a nod. "Okay" She said softly. She unlocked the door then motioned for Paige to head to the passenger side "Okay, but I'm warning you..." She drew in a breath and let it out slowly "...it's a mess."

"I like messes" Paige said with a smirk before opening the passenger door and getting into the car. She bit at her lip as she pulled her seat belt on and clicked it into place. She glanced at Emily getting in on her side and once she was settled, reached across to take her hand. She gave it a soft squeeze and nodded before looking forward out of the front of the car "I'm all ears, Em."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"What is she doing here?" Spencer hissed out a whisper as soon as Emily and Paige rounded the corner to the stakeout spot they had set up outside The Lost Woods Resort.

Emily rolled her eyes and glanced at Paige. She shook her head and looked at Hanna "What do we know?"

"Emily" Spencer grabbed a hold of her friend and gave her a tug until her eyes were drawn to her. She glanced at Paige in a silent repeat of her question and shrugged.

"She's here to help" Emily hissed, ripping her arm out of Spencer's grasp. "I told her everything, Spence. We need all the help we can get right now, okay?"

Spencer let out a frustrated grunt and glanced at Paige. She eyed her carefully for a moment before letting out a sigh "Fine. You're used to the insanity that follows the group of us, I guess. But not a word to anyone, alright?"

Paige lifted a hand in the air as if she were taking an oath and nodded "Scout's honor."

"You were never a scout" Spencer mumbled then lifted the binoculars to her face as she looked back toward the lodge.

Paige rolled her eyes and glanced at the other girls, giving them a soft smile "Tough crowd."

"It's good to see you" Hanna said with a soft grin. "My mom told me you're family was coming."

Paige nodded and opened her mouth to say something but Spencer cut them off. She let out a hiss to let them know to be quiet and quickly pointed to where she was looking. All of the girls leaned in that direction and though Spencer was the only one with binoculars, there was no missing the huge truck that had just pulled up to the cabin.

"Who is that?" Aria whispered softly.

"I can't tell" Spencer said with a shake of her head. "Mary is just standing there, leaning into the window."

"Anyone hear anything?" Hanna asked, turning her head so her ear was closer as if that would help from the distance they were at.

"Anyone know how to read lips?" Emily chimed in, looking around the group.

"Shut up" Spencer hissed again. "I can't see their lips. I can't even see who is driving. It's too dark."

The group fell silent and just watched. Mary and the mysterious truck driver chatted for a few more seconds before Mary ran back into the cabin. She rummaged around for a minute, Spencer being sure to remember exactly where she was rummaging, before returning outside to the truck. That's when an envelope was handed to the driver.

"Did you guys see that?" Spencer asked softly.

All of the girls nodded. The truck now restarted and the reverse lights were turned on.

"Come on" Paige grabbed Emily's hand and started to lead her away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Aria asked in a panic.

"We have to follow them" Paige shrugged as if that should have been obvious. "We don't know who that is, right? It could be anyone. If we know who Mary is talking to and what she was talking about we can get one step ahead of Jenna. I mean, assuming they are working together somehow, which we are?"

"Right" Spencer said with a nod. "Yeah, good. Hurry, go!"

Paige nodded and pulled at Emily again. The two of them quickly trampled through the brush and sticks until they reached Emily's car. They climbed in and started it up, leaving the headlights off as they turned it around and headed down the road that exited the Lost Woods. It wasn't long before they caught up to the truck. "Stay behind them enough that they can't see you. Metal is shiny and it can catch the moon or any other light we might pass. We will tail them by their tail lights."

Emily glanced at Paige and gave her a curious look before letting out a laugh "When did you get so good at this?"

Paige shrugged, her eyes not leaving the soft red glow of the tail lights of the truck in front of them "I studied a lot in college."

Emily let out a huff of a laugh "Oh yeah? Did you take 'how to be a spy 101'?"

Paige rolled her eyes but smiled "I did a lot of light reading on the side, okay? Give me a break."

"No, hey, more power to you" Emily said with a smile on her lips. Paige never ceased to amaze her. "So you managed to not only get a scholarship to one of the best schools in the country, but you managed to actually finish, get a degree, and read up on how to follow someone without detection just in case it came up again?" She gave her a teasing nudge with her hand and shook her head in amusement "All you need is a gold medal and you've got it all, don't you?"

"Not everything" Paige whispered, her eyes moving from the road for the first time since entering the car to look at Emily. She gave her an intense stare, biting her lip slightly. When Emily turned to look at her, she quickly looked away. She didn't want her to see it in her eyes but she had always felt the biggest part of her that was missing was Emily.

Emily caught the intense look from Paige right before she had looked away. It made her heart twist in her chest. She honestly couldn't believe that Paige still felt so strongly after all the time that had passed. She smiled slightly and let out a sigh. She didn't deserve this girl in her life as a friend or anything else.

"Em, watch out!" Paige screeched suddenly.

It was too late. Emily had been so distracted by Paige and the intense feelings surging through her that she hadn't been paying attention to the road or the truck. She slammed on her brakes but it did little to help. The next thing she knew the car was wedged under the rear bumper of the truck in front of them. Luckily, with the truck sitting higher than the car, the bumper just kind of skidded up the hood instead of smashing it in completely. That was the only good news in the situation though. They had totally just smashed into the person they were supposed to silently be stalking.

Paige looked over at Emily wide eyed. She reached over and put a hand on her face "Are you alright?"

"Yeah" Emily breathed out and glanced over at Paige "Are you?"

"Fine" Paige said softly. Both of them had been wearing a seat belt and the way they were tucked under the truck hadn't set off the airbags so there was no real danger to them. Except maybe the driver of the truck.

"What the Hell?" The driver's voice broke through the windows as he rounded the back of the truck to see what had happened.

Paige quickly got out of the car and held up her hands in a gesture of peace to try and calm the driver "Look, man, it was an acci-" She paused and tilted her head to the side, staring at the driver in surprise "Noel?"

Noel Kahn stood there looking completely panicked. He looked up at Paige and his eyes got wide. That is when he looked into the car to see Emily in the driver's seat. He shook his head and let out a frustrated grunt "Of course."

"Wait" Emily got out of the car now and looked at Noel with confusion "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I could ask the same of you" Noel said with an exasperated huff. "But I've learned that with you girls it's better not to ask because you're just going to lie anyway." He ran a hand back through his hair and shook his head "Where are the rest of them? Somewhere behind you, I assume?"

"No" Paige said quickly. "It's just Emily and myself. My aunt owns a cabin up here, remember? I'm in town for the weekend and I thought maybe we could have some alone time. Like you implied, where one of them goes the rest of the group follows so I thought, hey, if I take her into the middle of nowhere maybe we would actually get the chance to be truly alone."

Noel looked at Paige then at Emily and shook his head. He walked around to the front of the truck and grabbed something before returning to where his truck was stuck over Emily's car. "Here" He handed her a business card to a body shop in town "They will fix it for you. Tell them I sent you."

"Wait" Emily said again, stopping Noel's retreat back into the truck. "Why would you help us?"

"Look" He looked around with a few quickly glances before looking back at the girls "I'm not supposed to be out here, okay? If anyone knows I'm here people will start asking questions and there are just some answers I'm not ready to give yet. So..." He motioned to the card and nodded "Tell them I sent you and I trust that they will be the only people you tell about seeing me."

Emily gave a nod. Paige, on the other hand, shook her head "What are you up to?" She eyed him suspiciously.

Noel perked an eyebrow and looked at Paige with a fierce glare "I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, McCullers. I bought your story about your aunt's cabin, even though I know she sold it years ago. So why not just do as I say and no one gets hurt."

Paige's heart did a flip. How could she have known that Noel knew about her aunt's cabin. She gave a quick nod and offered him a weak smile "Deal. We never saw you."

Noel looked between the two girls with a few nods then offered a cheerful smile "Cool. Now, have a nice night ladies." His grin fell and he glared at the both of them before turning and getting into the truck. He slowly put the truck into drive and pulled forward until he popped off of the hood of the car. He paused once he was free and stuck his head out of the window. He gave one more glare back at the girls before pressing on the gas and speeding away, throwing rocks and dirt from the road behind him with the wheels of the truck.

Emily flinched as one of the rocks hit her. She coughed at the dust cloud that had been kicked up and waved a hand in front of her face until the dust cleared. When it did, she looked down at the business card she held in her hand then back up to Paige. Her head gave a shake and she shrugged, looking completely confused at what had just happened "That was so weird. How did he know you were lying?"

Paige just shook her head. Her eyes were trained on the road that Noel had disappeared down. She was quiet as she stared for a few long moments before finally looking back at Emily "Did you happen to see what the side of that truck said?"

"No" Emily said with a huff "I was too busy thinking how my mother is going to kill me for wrecking her car while at the same time being totally creeped out by Noel."

"Dunhill Laundry Services" Paige said softly, her eyes focused now on Emily. "Didn't you say that was Archer's last name?"

Emily nodded just once as she glanced down the road where the truck had vanished "I didn't know he owned a laundry business."

"I doubt he does" Paige said with a nod. "I can almost guarantee it's a cover business."

"For what?" Emily asked with a shrug. "And why is Noel involved?"

"That's what we're going to find out" Paige said with a nod. She grabbed the business card out of Emily's hand then motioned to the car "Come on, let's get back to town. The sooner we can dig into this the less time they have to start covering their tracks."

Emily nodded and moved toward the car. Luckily the car was still running. The hood was scraped from headlight to windshield and there were a few dents along it but other than that it had avoided real damage. She took a deep breath as she restarted the engine and flipped on the headlights. She took it slowly at first, making sure the steering and everything was going to be okay as they made their way out of the woods and toward the town. There were so many questions bubbling over in her mind but one was sticking out the most: When in the world did Paige grow nerves of steel?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Paige ran a towel over her hair swiftly as she pulled the door to the bathroom open after her shower. When she saw Emily sitting on the bed in her hotel room, she gave her a soft smile "What did Spencer say?"

Emily turned her eyes from where she had been watching the t.v. on the wall and gave Paige a soft smile "She was impressed, confused, and a little more paranoid. Mostly impressed, though."

"Impressed?" Paige let out a laugh and tossed the towel back into the bathroom before moving over to sit opposite Emily on the bed. She shifted the big white robe around her a little more tightly, just in case it wasn't tied properly, and glanced at Emily "Impressed about what?"

"You" Emily laughed lightly. "I told her how you totally called Noel out and had mind enough to pay attention to the details on the truck given how creepy he had been. She said your sleuthing skills are top notch."

"Did you tell her that 'how to be a spy 101' now has summer classes that she can join?" Paige teased before getting back up off the bed and heading to the closet in the hotel room. She opened it and started to rummage through the suitcase on the floor inside. She didn't bother to unpack and hang her clothes because she was only going to be there for the weekend.

Emily watched her for a moment, smiling without realizing it. Paige had gotten so much more calm and collected about all of this crazy stuff over the years and she wondered how that had really come about. When did she stop being afraid and start standing up for herself against an invisible threat like this. "She is having Mona look into the laundry business to see if she can find anything shady."

Paige nodded as she pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a Stanford tshirt. She moved over to the bed and handed them to Emily "Here."

"What are these for?" Emily eyed the clothes carefully.

"Look, you can't go back to the loft" Paige said with a shrug as she set the clothes down then turned back to her suitcase to get some more for herself to sleep in. "The way I see it, this A.D. already knows about the loft so you're not safe there. Plus who is to say it's not already under surveillance?" She pulled out another tshirt and a pair of shorts for herself now. "Your mom's house is too obvious because, well, she is your mother. I am sure they have eyes there, too."

Emily nodded. She hadn't even thought about that. Her eyes fell to stare at the tshirt that Paige had set on the bed and she started to think about her mom. She hoped she was safe from all of this craziness.

"The way I figure is you're safest here. Security cameras, every room is booked so if there is any excessive noise there will be witnesses..." Paige trailed off then turned her back to Emily. She slid her shorts on under the robe first before sliding the shoulders of the robe down, exposing her back to Emily, while she slid her arms out of the sleeves to slip the tshirt on over her head.

Emily barely registered what Paige had just said. She hadn't meant to but she couldn't help but stare as Paige changed. She had always had a nice figure, chiseled shoulders and back due to swimming, but she had somehow toned up more. It was probably the college, and now professional, coaching she had received over the past few years. She licked at her lips without even realizing it.

"Besides you know I think the safest place for you is next to me" Paige finished up as she now slid the robe off of herself and tossed it onto the chair near the window. She turned around and saw that Emily was still staring at her. She blushed softly and looked down over herself. She wore shorts that went to nearly her knees and a tshirt so she wasn't sure exactly what Emily was looking at "You alright, Em?"

"Sorry" Emily breathed out before looking away and fighting off a blush. She slid off the bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'm just going to..." She pointed at the bathroom and the clothes she had grabbed off the bed and nodded. She swallowed hard then moved into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her quickly. Once there was a safe distance between Paige and herself, she closed her eyes and drew in a few shaky breaths. In the moment that Paige's back had been bared toward her, she had forgotten everything that was going on. Nothing had existed. No vehicular homicide, no fake identities, no A.D. The only thought in her head, the only thing that had existed in that moment, was a feeling she had thought had been buried long ago. The burning desire for all things Paige McCullers.

Paige stood just outside the door of the bathroom, worry on her face. She didn't want to exactly spy on her but she had looked a little distracted on her way into the bathroom so she wanted to make sure she was alright. When there was no movement for a few moments, Paige licked at her lips and knocked softly "Do you need a toothbrush? I have a spare."

"No" Emily squeaked out. Her eyes shot open and she looked at the door. She licked her lips, cleared her throat, and tried again "No. Thank you. I'm almost done." She swallowed again then looked at the clothes in her hands. She had no idea how she was going to survive the night. They were supposed to sleep, get up and meet the girls early, then go their separate ways to prepare for the McCullers' vow ceremony party. She had to pull herself together.

Paige nodded at Emily's response and moved to sit on the bed. She grabbed the brush she had set there earlier in the day and started to move it through her still damp hair. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute in a trillion different directions. This weekend was more of an emotional roller coaster than she thought it ever would be and it was only Friday night.

Emily took her time to change, wash her face, and use the toothpaste that was in the bathroom to swish with so she would at least have decent breath. Once she was done and ready for bed she looked at herself in the mirror and drew in a deep, slow breath to compose herself. Her eyes dropped and she read the letting on the tshirt that Paige had borrowed to her. She smiled and traced the white letters against the cardinal red color with her fingers. She wasn't sure if Paige knew how completely proud she was that she had gotten that scholarship to Sanford. She just wished she could have been there to support her.

Shaking off the thought, Emily finally pulled the bathroom door open and stepped back into the hotel room. She gave Paige a smile and moved to tuck her neatly folded clothes on top of the dresser type thing they had in there. "Did my phone go off?"

"Not yet" Paige shook her head as she finished brushing her hair. She settled with her back against the wall and her legs pulled up onto the bed completely. She looked at Emily with a smile and patted the space next to her "I don't bite."

"That's a lie" Emily said without realizing it. Once she realized what she had said she let out a laugh and shrugged before moving to sit on the side of the bed. "Is this totally weird or is it just me?"

"No, this is totally weird and that comment made it weirder" Paige said honestly, letting out a laugh as she did so. But she shrugged too and watched Emily adjust so she was finally leaning her back against the wall behind the bed with her legs stretched out along the mattress as well. "But, we've always been good at overcoming the weird, right?"

Emily gave a nod at that. They really had been pretty good at overcoming a lot of things that would never be considered normal. She turned her head to the right to look at Paige beside her and smiled "Remember when we ran into each other in Cali a couple years back?"

Paige gave one nod "So we're avoiding the weird by talking about the past now?" She gave Emily a teasing smirk then nodded again "But, yes, I do. Why?"

Emily shrugged and laid her head back against the wall to look at the ceiling "Well you said earlier today that you had never felt at home in California. So what were you doing there?"

"I was training" Paige said with a nod. "I had just finished college and hadn't moved away yet. I had just gotten settled with a new coach and that is when I ran into you."

Emily nodded, her head turning to look at Paige again "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"You were a mess, Em" Paige breathed out softly, all amusement her tone had held was gone now. "You were a literal mess. I don't think you were sober the entire time we hung out. You avoided any and all real talk about anything pertaining to life and how you had been." She shrugged and looked over at Emily with a frown "Your dad had just died. How was I supposed to tell you I was training for the Olympics?"

Emily frowned. Her eyes closed for a moment and she took in a deep breath. She let it out slowly and reached out to take Paige's hand "You knew about that?"

"Of course I knew, Em" Paige whispered, her eyes falling to where Emily gripped at her hand. "Spencer told me. Hanna told me. They all told me, Em. I called your mom, you know?"

Emily was surprised to hear this. She opened her eyes and looked at Paige in shock and wonderment "You did?"

Paige nodded just once. "I wasn't sure why I felt the need to but I did. I was worried she would think it was odd, you know, considering we hadn't been together or even really talked in years. But she was grateful, so grateful. Your mom is incredible, Em. My heart really ached for her."

"Paige" Emily's words trembled a bit and her head shook in disbelief "Why?"

"Why what?" Paige looked worried now, wondering if she had upset Emily.

"Why are you so good to me? To my mother?" Emily bit her lip and drew in a deep breath to help calm the urge to cry that was rising in her throat.

"You've been a huge part of who I am for so long, Emily. Even when we weren't together you were still there for me in so many ways." Paige shrugged and gave Emily's hand a soft squeeze. "When we were together it was like nothing bad could ever happen in the world. Even when there was bad happening it didn't seem that bad because I always had you. Your mom is a part of that feeling too." She shrugged again and drew in a slow breath "Through it all, the ups and downs, you've kind of always been my best friend, Em."

Emily shook her head. Her eyes dropped to look at where their hands were tangled. She gave a tight squeeze and lifted Paige's fingers to hold them between both of her hands now. She licked at her lips and gave a soft kiss to the fingertips that peeked out between her hands "You are one of the purest and sweetest and most genuine people in this world and I don't deserve to have you as a friend."

"Don't say that, Emily" Paige almost whimpered the words to her. She turned now on the bed so she was facing Emily. She lifted her other hand and held it on the outside of where Emily's hands held her own. She bit at her lip and stared at the girl in front of her "You've never done anything to warrant deserving anything but the best in life, Em."

"I'm not a good person" Emily whispered. "Not like you are."

"I'm not that good either" Paige said with a shake of her head. "I did try to drown you once, remember?" She was teasing but also kind of serious.

Emily let out a soft laugh and rolled her eyes as a tear streaked down her cheek "You were a fetus of a person and didn't know how else to deal."

Paige tried to smile but it turned into a frown when she saw the tear. She reached up with the hand not between Emily's and wiped it away "What I'm trying to say is we all do bad things or make bad choices. That doesn't make us bad people. As long as we learn from what we've done that is all anyone can really expect from us."

"But I haven't learned, have I?" Emily now let go of Paige's hand and motioned around the room where they sat. "Look where I'm at, Paige. Back in my childhood! I am repeating history and making bigger mistakes and even worse choices." She let out a distraught huff and shook her head "I mean I'm actively trying to cover up-"

Paige lifted a hand to Emily's lips to cut her off. She looked around the room for a moment before looking back at her with a shake of her head. She slowly pulled her hand off of Emily's mouth and leaned in close to her. Her lips brushed at her ear as she whispered "As safe as you might be with the cameras here, there is no saying whether this room is bugged so let's keep the murder talk to a minimum, okay?"

Emily bit her lip and nodded as Paige pulled back from her. She had been so emotional, so on the verge of breaking down from everything she had been going through over the past couple years, that she hadn't been thinking straight. Luckily, like always, Paige was there to save the day. She gave a weak smile up at her "Thanks."

Paige nodded and lifted her hand to smooth her fingers through Emily's hair. She gave her a smile and whispered "Always the hero, remember?"

Emily let out an exasperated breath of a laugh and pushed Paige away from her "You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Not on your life, Em" Paige gave her a wink before moving now off the bed. She reached for the phone that was on the bedside table and lifted it to her ear. She waited for a moment and when the other end was answered she smiled "Hi, yes, I'd like to order two pints of the cookie dough ice cream and one of those huge lava brownie cake things?" She waited for the other person to finish speaking and she nodded "Yeah. Put it on room 215. McCullers." She let out a laugh and smiled "Nick McCullers, yes. You probably have everyone calling in and putting things under McCullers, don't you?"

Emily perked an eyebrow at Paige on the phone. A smile came to her lips as she listened. Paige had blossomed into such an incredible woman. She was strong and brave and polite and never did she lose her sense of self. She was to be admired.

"Thank you so much" Paige dropped the phone back on it's holder once the call was over and turned to look at Emily. She grabbed the remote and tossed it at her softly "I'm gonna hit the ladies room. You pick a movie on pay per view while I do so."

"Paige you don't have to do this" Emily said with a shake of her head. "I'm so tired I could probably pass out and sleep through a stampede of elephants."

"But you won't" Paige said with a smile. "Besides, it's all on my dad so take advantage of it." She gave her a grin then headed into the bathroom.

Emily shook her head and looked back at the t.v. now as she pointed the remote at it. She hated that Paige knew she wouldn't get much sleep that night because of everything going on. She also really liked it. She had missed it if she was being honest.

After a few moments, Paige returned from the bathroom and moved back over to the bed. She glanced up to the screen where Emily stared concentrating and smiled softly. She watched the way her brows furrowed as she scrolled through the choices and couldn't help but get lost in the little crease of her forehead. She thought it was absolutely adorable. Always had. But she would never admit it.

When Emily felt Paige staring at her, she blushed and looked over at her with a laugh "Can I help you?"

Paige just shook her head and laid back now against the wall behind the bed again "Nope. Just thinking about how good you look in Stanford colors."

Emily bit her lip and looked back at the screen. She fought a smile off as she decided on a movie and finally selected it. Once it started playing she set the remote on the table on her side of the bed then settled next to Paige against the wall. She looked over at Paige and her smiled grew slightly "If this shirt goes missing, it wasn't me."

Paige smirked but kept her eyes on the screen as the opening credits rolled "I'll pretend not to notice."

Emily let out a soft laugh and looked at the screen now too. She hated how her heart fluttered at the thought of Paige having basically given her a Stanford shirt to wear. Sure it was a few years too late but it was the thought that counted.

Paige glanced out of the side of her eye to look at Emily. When she saw the smile on her face her heart flipped. It was like they had been transported back in time to what it should have been like in college. Late night movies and ice cream in her dorm. Emily sleeping over in her Stanford shirts. No worries in the world. Sure, there were worries, big worries, but in that moment it didn't seem like it and that was all that mattered to Paige for now.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	2. Satuday

Emily rolled over in the bed with a smile on her face. As she slowly started to drift back into consciousness she started to realize that she had actually slept. She had not only slept but had slept well. Slept restfully. It was the first time since getting back to Rosewood she had slept without stirring or waking from an awful dream. The smile on her face grew at the realization. She had slept well and she had an idea of why.

As her arm stretched out across the mattress, her smile faded. When there was nothing but emptiness next to her she immediately shot up, eyes ripping open, head swiveling left and right to look around the room. "Paige?" She called out with panic in her voice. She was alone. She didn't like waking up alone when she had fallen asleep next to someone. "Paige!?"

She rolled out of bed and hit the floor with a thud of her feet. She looked around the room where she stood and tried to piece together what had happened, if anything. It didn't seem to look like there had been a struggle or break in. Nothing seemed out of place. She did notice, however, that Paige's phone was gone from it's charger. Her phone! She could call her. Emily turned and reached for her own on the bedside table now.

That is when she saw it. A small sticky note with the unmistakable scrawl on it. She hadn't even read the words but she was immediately put at ease. Paige had left her a note. That meant Paige was safe. She had left the room of her own accord and there was nothing wrong. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and lifted the note now to read it over.

"Mom stuff for the ceremony today. You looked too peaceful to wake. Order room service on my dad. I left you an extra key card just in case. I'll meet up with you later. -P"

Emily smiled at the note. Paige's handwriting had gotten much better. It used to be nearly illegible in high school. She read the note again and shook her head. There was no way she was actually going to order room service but the thought was nice. She was, however, going to take full advantage of the shower in the hotel room before she left to meet up with the girls.

Glancing at the time on her phone, Emily nodded to herself and moved toward the bathroom. She only had a half hour before she was to meet at the brew for coffee and a summary of any information Mona may have gathered. So like she had done so many times in college while running late for class, she moved like a shot to shower and get herself ready.

Fifteen minutes later and Emily was out of the shower and drying off. She found the spare toothbrush Paige had mentioned the night before because, well, it was sitting on the bathroom counter with a note that told her it was for her. After brushing her teeth and her hair she moved into the room to get some clothes. That is when she realized she only had the clothes from yesterday. She frowned at that. Not that she was above re-wearing her own clothes, especially since she could just run to the loft and change after coffee but she wasn't sure there would be time. Who knew where their coffee date would lead them all.

So, after thinking it over for a minute, Emily moved to the closet where Paige's suitcase was. The great thing about Paige was, well, their similar size in clothing. Emily smirked as she rummaged through the choices. Sometimes dating girls payed off in more ways than she could count. Not that she and Paige were dating. They had. Once, or twice, so it definitely still counted in this situation. Paige totally wouldn't care if she borrowed some clothes. She would probably like it.

Emily laughed at herself and shook off the thoughts of Paige liking the fact that she borrowed her clothes. And the thoughts of them dating. There was no time. She quickly decided on an outfit, pulled it over herself, then found her shoes. Sliding her feet into them, she glanced around the room to make sure she had everything she would need. She grabbed her purse, her phone, and her keys before heading for the door. That's when she remembered the key card. She quickly scooped it up, slid it into the back pocket of the capris she had borrowed and opened the door. She glanced at her phone and smiled to herself. She still had ten minutes to get to the Brew which was nice considering she would have to walk because her car was still in the shady auto shop that Noel had demanded she go to. A least she had gotten really good at getting ready in a rush. College had paid off there.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"There you are" Aria said with a smile when Emily walked into the Brew and over to their little corner couch they loved to sit in. "Here" She offered the cup of coffee she had grabbed for her when she had arrived.

"Thanks" Emily took the cup then sat down, immediately sipping from it. She let out a soft hum of liking as the hot liquid moved down her throat and once it was nestled in her stomach she set the cup down and looked at Aria "Where are the others?"

"Hanna had a meeting with Lucas" Aria shrugged. "She is running late but she's on the way. Spencer said she had to make a stop but assured me it was pertinent to what she had to tell us so..." Aria shrugged again and sipped her coffee.

Emily nodded and lifted her coffee back to her lips. She licked her lips once she swallowed and shrugged "So you don't know anything new?"

Aria shook her head. Her eyes drifted down to what Emily was wearing and she smiled softly "Cute capris."

Emily looked down and let out a laugh. A finger slid over one of the rips in the material and shrugged "Uh, yeah thanks. Just something I threw on."

"I like the color" Aria said with a shrug "What would you call that? Cardinal?"

Emily thought it over for a second and shrugged "I guess, yeah. I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Aria perked an eyebrow and looked at Emily with a laugh "Don't you check the color name to make sure you have something to match it before you buy it?"

"Uh, no. Only freaks like you and Hanna do that" Emily teased with a laugh. "And I didn't buy these so I don't really know."

"Aww is your mom still buying your clothes?" Aria smirked, teasing her slightly. She had always thought it was cute that her mother had bought all of her clothes for her up until about junior year of high school.

"Shut up" Emily said with a roll of her eyes and a laugh. "Not that it's important, but since you're intent on grilling me about it, they aren't even mine."

This got Aria's full attention. Both of her eyebrows raised on her forehead and she smirked ever so slightly before leaning in to whisper "Sabrina? Is that where you were last night?"

Emily's heart dropped. She had totally forgotten that there was kind of a little thing that she had going on. She bit her lip and shook her head as her eyes shifted around the Brew now. It had just dawned on her that they were sitting in the very place of business where Sabrina worked.

When Emily shook her head, Aria's eyebrows lifted even more. She set down her coffee and leaned in even closer, barely even making a sound as she breathed out the name "Paige?"

"It's not like that" Emily said quickly. She sat up a little straighter now when she saw both Hanna and Spencer rushing through the door together. She put on a forced smile and gave them both a nod as they joined them "Hey, guys."

"Coffee" Spencer reached for the huge cup that was sitting there for her before even acknowledging anyone else around her.

Hanna, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at Spencer then sat next to Emily with a smile "Cute capris."

"Thanks" Emily shook her head and lifted her coffee to her lips. She took a quick sip then turned all of the focus away from herself and onto Spencer "So? What's going on?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Emily let out a sigh and glanced at the time on her phone again.

"Have somewhere else to be?" Spencer mumbled softly from the passenger side of the car. Once they had finished at the Brew, Emily and Spencer had headed to the auto shop to get Emily's car. Spencer had demanded she go with because she wanted to snoop around while Emily distracted them. It hadn't turned up much.

Now they sat in Emily's car just off the road leading to The Lost Woods Resort again. They weren't going to go back up on the property just yet but they were going to watch and see which vehicles went in and out of there.

"Yes" Emily finally answered Spencer's question, glancing over at her as she did so. "I have to work today, remember? And what are we doing out here anyway? What are we trying to find?"

"I want to see if Noel comes back" Spencer said with a shrug. She kicked her feet up on the dashboard of the car and folded her arms as she stared out the windshield. They had parked the car just around a bend in a bunch of trees so it was hidden but they could still see the road that lead up to the resort.

Emily sighed and looked at her phone again. She shook her head and looked at Spencer again "So we think Noel is taking money from Mary Drake, right?"

"What else could have been in that envelope last night?" Spencer asked with a shrug.

Emily shrugged too and sighed "Laundry?" When Spencer huffed at that, Emily rolled her eyes. "Photographs. Research. Keys. Candy bars?" Emily flung her hands up in frustration and turned to face Spencer a little more now "How do we know that he's even up to anything?"

"How about that whole don't tell anyone you saw me business?" Spencer offered with a shrug.

"Maybe he's trying to avoid the freaks of this town so he doesn't get pulled into all of the drama?" Emily rebutted with a lift of one shoulder.

"Then why is he driving around in a truck for a business that doesn't exist?" Spencer mumbled as she shifted to sit up in the seat now.

Emily let out a grunt of a sigh and plopped back against her seat. The truth was they weren't any closer to figuring out what Noel was doing in town and why he was driving that truck than she were the night before. Mona had come to a dead end in her research. All she knew was Noel's father was now the owner of the majority of the property in the woods, including the land The Lost Woods Resort sat on.

"Maybe it was just payment for the resort" Emily finally mumbled softly.

"Maybe" Spencer shrugged. "That doesn't explain the truck, though."

"And Mona wasn't successful in tracking down where Noel is storing the truck or any other source of where this so called laundry business is working out of?"

Spencer shook her head at that. The two of them fell silent after that, both staring out of the front window of the car in hopes that anything moved. It seemed like they had been sitting there for days waiting for something to happen but it had only been just under an hour at that point.

They sat there not saying anything for a few long minutes before the silence was broken by the sound of Emily's phone going off. Both of the girls jumped, more out of fear of what the text might say and less out of having been scared by the sudden sound. Emily grabbed her phone and let out a relieved sigh when she saw the screen "It's not A.D."

"Who is it?" Spencer looked curiously at the phone, then at Emily.

Emily shrugged and opened the message so she could fully read it. She smiled at the words on the screen and started to text a reply "No one."

Spencer let out an amused laugh and shook her head "It's Paige, isn't it?"

"No" Emily lied horribly, letting out a huff as if she were offended Spencer would suggest such a thing.

"Please, Em. That girl is like catnip to you. She so much as breaths in the same city as you and you turn into jello" Spencer rolled her eyes, her lips holding an amused smirk.

"Catnip, really?" Emily arched an eyebrow at Spencer.

Spencer shrugged, biting back a laugh "A little word play considering you both like p-"

"I get it!" Emily cut her off, blushing slightly. She shook her head and set her phone down. She smiled for a moment then looked back at Spencer. "I can't believe you were about to say that."

Spencer just smirked and shrugged before her eyes turned back to the still empty and undisturbed road. "What can I say? D.C. has corrupted me."

"I'm sure it was all D.C." Emily said with an unconvinced laugh. She looked back at her phone and smiled again. She was quiet as she thought it over then looked back at Spencer after a moment "Jello?"

Spencer let out a huffed laugh and nodded "All jiggly and unstable."

"I am not unstable" Emily said with a hurt look on her face.

"I didn't mean you were unstable, Em" Spencer looked over at her friend now, reaching out to put a hand on her arm. "I meant the two of you do something to each other that completely dismantles everything about one another. In a good way, though. It's like when you see her you..." She thought it over, wanting to choose her words carefully and precisely so as not to come off the wrong way. "...You know in chemistry when you break down a compound chemical to get to it's basic elements? It's kind of like that. Paige pulls apart the compound structure you're hiding in and brings you back to the basics of who you are."

Emily's stomach flipped a little bit. She wasn't great at chemistry but she got the metaphor. She couldn't believe that Spencer could see that. She wondered who else could. She wonder if Paige could.

She didn't have much time to think it over, though. Just then a vehicle was seen approaching in the distance. Both of the girls sat up straighter in their seats and held their breaths. As the vehicle drew nearer, it was obvious it was the big laundry truck from the night before. Spencer reached over and grabbed Emily's arm as they both watched in anticipation. When it turned up the road to the lodge, both girls gasped out at what they saw.

"Jenna?" Emily shook her head slightly.

"I knew it" Spencer nearly growled as the truck passed and disappeared up the long drive to the middle of the resort. She turned to look at Emily now, that wild excited look in her eyes "I knew Noel and Jenna were working together with Mary."

Emily was in shock. She couldn't believe she had just seen Noel Kahn driving Jenna up to the cabin to, presumably, meet with Mary Drake. She let out a breath of disbelief and shook her head "What the Hell is going on?"

"I don't know but I am going to find out" Spencer grabbed for the door handle and pushed the passenger side door open.

"Spence, wait" Emily grabbed her arm and frowned, shaking her head "Don't. It's the middle of the day. They will see you. It's so bright out here, Jenna could see you and she's blind!"

"Don't worry" Spencer pulled her arm from Emily's grip lightly. "I'll be careful. I'll be right back, okay?"

Before Emily could argue, Spencer was running through the brush and Emily was alone. She let out a sigh and shook her head. She had always thought of Spencer as the smart one in the group but sometimes she did the dumbest things.

A few minutes passed by and Emily started to worry. She leaned forward to look out of the passenger side window in the direction that Spencer had disappeared. She was hoping to see any sign of Spencer returning. After the brush stayed still for a few more minutes, Emily let out a sigh and pushed her door open. She would have to go find her which meant she would be late for work.

Just as she was about to shut her door and head into the woods, Spencer's foot steps were heard and she quickly reappeared out of the brush where she had disappeared. Her eyes were wide and she pointed to the car, mouthing the words "Let's get out of here."

Emily's eyes went wide and she quickly got back into the car. She started the engine and as soon as Spencer had shut the passenger side door, she put the car in drive and sped off down the dirt road.

They both sat silently for a few moments, Spencer catching her breath and Emily driving as quickly as possible. After leaving the dirt road and reaching a regular paved road, Emily glanced over at Spencer and shook her head "What happened?"

"Nothing" Spencer shook her head, letting out a soft laugh. "The three of them were inside the cabin but I didn't stay to find out why. I just put the tracking device on the truck and ran."

"Tracking device?" Emily's eyes got wide as she looked at Spencer in shock.

"Yeah, Moan gave it to me" Spencer nodded.

"So that's why we had to come out here" Emily rolled her eyes and gave her head a shake. "It wasn't to see if Noel would come back. It was to be able to track him when he inevitably did come back to the lodge."

Spencer just shrugged as she reached for her phone "It's gonna work, Em. Then we will know where he's hiding out." She didn't look up as she typed a text on her phone.

Emily shook her head. She hated getting half truths from her friends. She thought they were passed that considering they had all worked together in covering up a murder. She stayed silent for the rest of the drive and once they were back in town she headed straight for the loft. She pulled up and didn't even look at Spencer as she started to get out of the car

"Are you coming inside?" Spencer asked, looking back into the car once she was out.

"Nope" Emily said without looking at her still. "I have to get to work."

Spencer eyed Emily for a moment then let out a sigh "I didn't want to tell you until I knew for sure we could get the tracking device on the truck."

"Whatever" Emily mumbled softly. "I'm going to be late."

"Em, come on" Spencer pleaded, leaning back into the car now. "We need this."

Emily just shook her head. She was probably right. If they were going to try and continued to get one step ahead of Jenna and her crew they probably did need this. She was just irritated that Spencer hadn't been completely honest with her.

Spencer let out a sigh and pushed away from the car now "Have fun at work" She said softly. She knew she had upset Emily and she also knew with time she would cool off. Work would be good for her. It would distract her.

Emily didn't say goodbye. She just sped off, leaving Spencer standing on the curb outside the loft building. She didn't even look in her rear view mirror. She kind of wished she could keep driving, to be honest. She wanted to leave all of this behind and never look back. But, of course, she was too involved now so she had to do whatever it took to make sure this situation stayed buried forever.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"You're late" Ashley said in a panic as Emily walked into the catering tent that had been set up at the park.

"I know, I'm sorry. Traffic" Emily lied with a shrug as she hurried over to the tables to help with the rest of the food set up.

Ashley didn't ask. She knew Emily well enough to know when she was lying. She also knew her well enough to know that if it were real trouble she would be able to tell. So she let it slide. "Well everything in the bar is already set up. Do you want to be the one making drinks or do you want to cocktail?"

Emily just shrugged as she adjusted her uniform suspenders over her shoulders and tightened them slightly. She glanced up at Ashley and gave her a tired smile "Whichever you prefer, Ms. Marin."

Ashley frowned at that. She moved over to Emily and put a soft hand on her shoulder "Are you alright?"

Emily nodded quickly and pushed her tired smile into a bigger one "I had a long night. Accidentally rear ended someone. No one was hurt but now I have to pay to fix my mom's car. I just have a lot on my mind."

Ashley nodded and took her hand off of Emily's shoulder "Oh, okay. Well if you need anything-"

"Thank you" Emily gave Ashley a firm but gently smile before turning around now with a tray in her hands. "I guess I'll be behind the bar, if you don't mind?"

"Not a problem" Ashley said with a smile. "I would much rather someone with experience be behind there anyway. I had to hire a few extra helping hands to assist in making sure all the tables stay cleared and everyone gets their food and drinks quickly so I much prefer the newbies do that and my staff stick to what they're good at."

"Thanks" Emily offered a real smile now then motioned outside the tent toward where the bar was set up under a shaded tree. "I'm just going to go finish setting up, alright?"

"Sure thing. I'll send the helping hands over there for you to brief them on how you want them to handle orders in a bit, okay?"

"Got it" Emily gave one more nod before moving out of the tent and across the park. She was glad the bar was in the shade. The sun was already blaring down and it was barely two in the afternoon. She couldn't imagine how much more the temperature would rise by the end of it.

Emily moved silently through the little makeshift bar, putting things in place and making sure she had everything she would need to fill the orders for the party. She was in the middle of cutting up some lemons when she heard a familiar voice speak her name.

She looked up and her heart stopped for a split second. Her eyes got wide and she stumbled over her words as she tried to speak "Sabrina? What are you-" She cut herself off when she saw the unmistakable Radley uniform hugging Sabrina's form. The crisp white shirt, the black slacks, and the suspenders. She drew in a breath and her face turned red "Oh. You're one of the helping hands Ms. Marin hired."

Sabrina gave a nod. She looked at Emily nervously for a moment then let out a sigh "I don't want you to think I'm like stalking you or anything but I saw the flier in The Brew that said they needed some help for the event. I couldn't pass it up. She is paying me really well."

"No, it's fine" Emily said with a shake of her head, trying to smile at the girl. "I'm glad you're here. It's going to be nice working with a familiar face over someone I don't know."

Sabrina's face moved from worried to relieved and she actually smiled. "Good. I was worried you would think I was one of those overbearing lesbians that goes on a date or two before becoming totally obsessed and confessing their love and wanting to move in together."

Emily perked an eyebrow and just stared at Sabrina.

"Not that I love you" Sabrina quickly mumbled, closing her eyes and dropping her head. "This is so awkward."

"It's fine" Emily said with a soft laugh. She waited for Sabrina to pluck up the nerve to look back at her and gave her a nod. "I didn't think you were confessing anything."

"Oh, good" Sabrina let out a sigh of relief then moved to lean against the bar. "You're not bad to look at, though."

Before Emily could respond, they were interrupted by Paige coming up to the bar. She greeted Emily with a wide smile "Hey, Em. Are you ready for this insanity?"

Emily glanced up at Paige and couldn't help the smile that came to her lips. She gave a nod as her eyes moved over what Paige was wearing. It wasn't a dress, because Paige simply did not wear dresses, but it was nice. Really nice. It was something akin to the tux she had worn to the masquerade ball only in all white. Emily bit her lip at that, remembering how good Paige had looked that night and realizing that she looked even better now. "Born ready" She managed to breath out.

Paige saw the way Emily was looking at her and it caused her gut to twist. She couldn't even count the times she had day dreamed that she would get to see Emily's eyes on her like that again. She bit her lip and nodded before her eyes shifted and she realized there was someone else standing there. She straightened up and offered a smile "Hey, I'm Paige. My family is responsible for the madness you've gotten yourself into and all I can say is I'm sorry."

"I'm sure it won't be too bad" Sabrina said with a soft laugh as she extended her hand out to shake Paige's. "I have worked rush hour in the morning at The Brew. That's like dealing with a zombie horde." She gave a fake shudder and let out another laugh "Terrifying."

Paige laughed and returned the handshake before giving a nod. She looked at the two girls in their Radley uniforms and smiled "How long have you two worked together?"

"This is my first day" Sabrina said with a smile. "I'm just the extra help. But I heard there was lots of tipping involved so I couldn't turn it down."

Paige nodded and looked at Emily for a second before looking back at Sabrina "The drunker you get them the better they tip. Just a little insider information for you." She gave Emily a wink and let out a laugh.

Sabrina looked at the way Emily blushed at the wink then back at Paige and tilted her head to the side. She smiled slightly and looked between the girls "You two know each other?"

"Oh yeah" Emily said with a quick nod. "Paige and I went to high school together. We were both on the swim team."

"Oh" Sabrina's eyes lit up with recognition and nodded. "Paige! The uh..." She moved her hand in a small circle as if trying to coax the right words out of herself. "...on and off high school sweetheart?"

Emily blushed and her eyes dropped away from Paige. Paige, on the other hand, tilted her head to the side and stared at Sabrina curiously "I thought you said this was your first day?"

"Oh it is" Sabrina nodded "But, Emily and I know each other outside of catering parties. We've been on a few dates."

"Gotcha" Paige let out a laugh and smiled brightly at Emily. When she caught her eyes, her own eyes widened and her brows lifted on her forehead "So this just got really awkward!"

"No, no" Emily shook her head and looked between the two girls. "It's not like-" She stopped herself when she saw Sabrina's face fall. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, drawing in a slow breath. She let it out smoothly and opened her eyes again "I really don't-"

Paige lifted a hand to stop her. "No need to explain, Em" She turned her attention back to Sabrina and offered her hand in a shake again "Nice to meet you. I'll try to keep my family under control but if you need help, let me know okay?"

"Sure" Sabrina nodded and took the gesture with a smile.

"Em" Paige looked back behind the bar and gave her a smile "I'll catch up with you later." She gave a wave to both of the girls then turned to head back toward the church. The vow ceremony would only take about fifteen minutes then everyone would move from the church to the park to enjoy the party.

Emily watched Paige until she disappeared into the church. She bit her lip and looked back at Sabrina with an apologetic look in her eyes "I'm so sorry."

"Like she said, there is no need to explain" Sabrina said with a smile. "You've seen me with my ex and now I've seen you with yours. No big deal. They are exes for a reason, right?"

Emily tried to nod but it fell off after just a chin drop. She glanced back at the church then to Sabrina. She couldn't believe this was happening. How was it that she comes back to Rosewood and her entire world turns into a mess? First a murder, then another murder, and now her love life is suddenly all knotted up? She really wished she could leave Rosewood and never look back.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

It was nearly dark now and Emily's feet were killing her. She had turned out more drinks that day than she had in all of her barista and bar tending jobs combined. Luckily it was dying down as people, probably too drunk to stand, started filing out of the park and back to The Radley.

Emily and Sabrina hadn't really gotten to talk much because they had both been too busy. Sabrina did attempt to flirt every time she came to the bar to get drinks but Emily just pretended not to notice as she shook her thousandth martini of the day. She had, however, kept a very close eye on Paige all day. She had been busy entertaining her family and fielding congratulations to be passed onto her parents for most of the day but when she could, she stole a glance and a smile from Emily.

Now as Emily started to pack up for the night, Paige slid over to the bar and leaned against it gently "Can I get a Chardonnay?"

Emily looked up and smiled softly as she turned around to grab a wine glass "After the day you've had, you deserve it." She set the glass in front of Paige then lifted the bottle to fill it up. "I'm actually really impressed this is your first drink."

"I figured someone should be sober" Paige said with a shrug. She waited until Emily slid the glass toward her before grabbing it and lifting it for a sip. She swallowed and curled her lip in disgust as she set the glass down and pushed it away "Disgusting."

Emily perked an eyebrow and let out a laugh "Then why did you order it?"

"It sounded much more elegant than a bourbon on the rocks?" Paige offered with a shrug.

Emily gave an impressed smirk and turned around to grab the bourbon. She dropped a few ice cubes in a glass then poured the drink. She pushed it toward Paige and grabbed the wine she had rejected. "Cheers" She offered the wine up in the gesture and after they clicked their glasses together, she took a sip from the wine.

"Are you supposed to be drinking?" Paige asked as she licked the bourbon off her lips.

"Probably not" Emily said with a laugh. "But I was also told I would be off by seven and here it is, after eight." She shrugged and took another sip before motioning to Paige "Bourbon?"

Paige shrugged and looked into her glass. She swirled the ice cubes around then took another sip. Once she swallowed she looked up at Emily with a smile "I guess my tastes have refined a little."

"I think anything above a drugged flask of mystery booze is considered refined" Emily said with a soft laugh before taking another sip.

Paige huffed out a laugh then turned to look over the park. Her parents had long since left, probably to re-consummate their marriage. She shuddered at the thought. All that lingered in the park now were most of The Radley staff and a few long winded relatives that had trapped the younger generation and were now grilling them on their life plans. She laughed at that and turned back to Emily "Did I get you in trouble earlier?"

"What do you mean?" Emily asked softly from where she had moved to continue cleaning up the bar.

"With..." Paige motioned toward the catering tent where Sabrina stood clearing off a tray of trash she had collected.

Emily glanced up and let out a breath of a laugh before looking back at her task "No. Not that there is anything to get in trouble about."

Paige perked an eyebrow and set her bourbon down on the bar "I thought..."

Emily quickly looked up and shook her head "I mean, we did go on a few dates." She shrugged and looked back at Sabrina before looking down to where she was packing away the glasses she had just cleaned. She drew in a deep breath and let it out softly before continuing "That's all it's been. A couple dates. She's nice but, I don't know."

"Why not?" Paige asked softly, leaning now against the bar with her elbows, her hands both cupped around her drink.

"Why not, what?" Emily glanced up then back down to where she was working.

"Why don't you know?" Paige shrugged. "What don't you know?"

Emily just shook her head. She lifted the box of packed glasses and moved to set it outside the bar for one of the other staff members to come grab and take back to the trucks. She then moved back to fill another box "It's different, I guess? Kind of hard, if that makes any sense at all?" She looked back up at Paige and smiled very softly "It's kind of like-"

"Swimming upstream?" Paige finished for her.

Emily let out a laugh and nodded before looking back at what she was doing "Exactly. It's awkward just talking to her sometimes, you know? I mean, she's nice and we get along well I guess. But she talks, a lot, and sometimes I have no idea what in the world she is going on about." She looked up at Sabrina across the park and shook her head "She's, I don't know." She shrugged and looked back at Paige "You know?"

"I know" Paige said with a laugh. "I've been there, too. It's like, I get it, starting something with someone is going to be weird because you don't know each other and part of the process is getting to know each other but..." She let out a sigh and lifted her drink. She took a sip then shook her head "Dating is weird."

"Hear, hear" Emily reached for the wine she had set down and lifted the glass. The two of them once more clinked their glasses together in a cheers motion before both taking a sip. Once she swallowed, Emily set down the glass then looked up at Paige "You know what's not weird?"

Paige perked an eyebrow and shook her head as she leaned back onto her elbows "I could think of a million things that aren't weird, but please, enlighten me."

Emily smiled very softly and motioned her head toward Paige "You."

Paige's let out one loud laugh and grabbed her drink again "Honey, I'm a complete weirdo."

Emily laughed too and shook her head "No, I honestly think you are one of the most normal, put together, mature people I know."

Paige smiled very softly at the sincerity in Emily's voice. She shook her head and took a sip before setting the empty glass back on the bar. She pushed herself away from leaning against the bar and moved a little closer to where Emily stood "I do my best."

"You've done well" Emily said with a sincere nod. She couldn't take her eyes off of Paige. She looked stunning in the white tux she wore. Her hair was shorter than the last time they had seen each other but it looked good. She looked grown up, but not old. Sophisticated was the word. Paige McCullers had grown into a sophisticated young woman.

"Sorry to interrupt" Sabrina approached now and gave Emily an apologetic smile. "Ms. Marin needs the last of the glasses to load on the truck so they can get them back to The Radley before the dishwashers leave for the night.

"Sure" Emily motioned to the stack of boxes that held the glasses she had packed away and nodded "I have one more box to fill and I'll be done."

"I'll get the guys over here, then" Sabrina glanced at Paige then turned to head back to the tent.

Paige smirked then looked at Emily with amusement on her face "She hates me."

"Oh please" Emily rolled her eyes before looking back at the box she was loading up.

"She can sense it" Paige said with a shrug.

"Sense what?" Emily breathed out a laugh.

"The sexual tension" Paige smirked, shrugging again as her hands moved into her pockets now.

Emily blushed slightly but before she could come back at Paige with a veiled denial, Sabrina was back with the guys that were loading the trucks. They all grabbed a box, Emily included since she had just finished loading the last of the glasses, and headed back toward the tent. She paused when she drew even with where Paige was standing and shook her head "I have to go."

Paige motioned for her to go ahead and gave her a smile "I'm going to call it a night anyway. So..." She took a few steps back away from Emily, a smirk on her lips the entire time. She eyed Emily up and down, still fully enjoying the uniform she was wearing, before nodding at her "...you know where I'll be."

Emily bit her lip and nodded at Paige. She watched Paige give a wave then turn to leave before shaking her head and moving toward the tent. She let out a huff as she lifted the heavy box of glasses onto the truck then brushed her hands together before turning around to look at Ashley "What else do I need to do?"

Ashley shook her head and offered her a smile "Just meet me back in conference room one for your tips."

Emily perked an eyebrow at that. It had been a long day but the money at the end of it would hopefully make it worth it. "I'll see you there, boss."

Ashley climbed into the truck that had been loaded with all of the supplies that needed to be returned to the Radley. As the truck took off down the road, Emily turned around to find her things so she could follow suit. As she gathered her purse, phone, and keys, Sabrina cleared her throat behind her.

"Sorry to ask but can I catch a ride?" Sabrina bit at her lip nervously. "I walked here from home and The Radley is a much longer walk from here and I'd really like my tips..."

Emily nodded and offered her a smile "No problem. Let's go."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The car ride had been painfully silent. Emily had barely looked at Sabrina. Paige's words were bouncing around in her head. "She can sense it" echoed in her ears. She felt guilty about that and she wondered why. It's not like she really owed Sabrina anything.

Finally, Sabrina cleared her throat to break the silence "So, Paige seems nice."

Emily gave a nod and glanced at Sabrina. She offered a smile then looked back at the road "She's very nice, yes."

Sabrina nodded once. Her hands laid in her lap, pulling and twisting at themselves nervously. She glanced at Emily and let out a defeated sounding sigh "Look, I don't want to sound like the crazy girl here or whatever but I kind of got the feeling that there is more between you and Paige than just history."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked as nonchalantly as she could manage to.

Sabrina shrugged slightly "I saw the way she looked at you. I saw the way you looked at her. I saw the way you barely made eye contact with me all night but couldn't keep your eyes off of her as you followed her every move around the party."

Emily bit her lip. She hadn't even realized she had been watching Paige that closely all night. She was quiet for a moment before glancing at Sabrina and shrugging "We've been through a lot together, and separately, and it's just nice to see her again."

Sabrina nodded once "Nice to have that familiarity around?"

Emily shrugged one shoulder and gave a nod "Yeah, I guess. Like you said, we have history. I'm back in my childhood hometown with my childhood friends and now she's back for the weekend and it's all just been..." She shook her head as she thought about the right word. "Nostalgic."

"Comforting?" Sabrina offered.

"Yeah" Emily smiled and glanced at Sabrina. "Home is just as much a sense of comfort with your surroundings and the people you're with than it is about a place, you know?"

"And she feels like home?" Sabrina perked an eyebrow.

Emily thought about it for a moment before a gentle smile came to her lips. Her face softened and she nodded again "Yeah, I guess. As much as any of my other friends do."

Sabrina shook her head at that "No, I don't think so."

"What do you mean?" Emily's face dropped into a frown now.

"I've never seen your face light up the way it just did when you talk about your other friends. The look you just got was different..." Sabrina shrugged and looked away from Emily.

"Of course it's different" Emily defended herself in a soft tone "We dated. She's not just another friend to me. She's a different level of friend. It doesn't mean she's better or worse. Just different."

"It's fine" Sabrina waved her hand to the side softly. The car pulled up to The Radley and as Emily navigated it around to employee parking, Sabrina sighed. "I don't want to step on toes-"

"You're not-"

Sabrina lifted a hand to stop her "I'm not saying I am. What I am saying is that while Paige is here, you're not." She touched at her own heart "You're somewhere else and that's okay. I can deal with that. But don't lie to yourself about it."

Emily frowned as she pulled the car into a parking spot. She turned off the engine and looked at Sabrina with a sad look on her face "I really do like you."

"I know you do" Sabrina said with a soft nod. "But there's enjoying a new place you visited and then there's being happy to return home." She reached over and gave Emily's hand a squeeze before moving to push the door open. She climbed out of the car, shut the door, then leaned back into the window "Home is always there waiting for you to come back to it." She gave one last smile then pushed off away from the car and headed into the back door of The Radley.

Emily's heart was racing. She wasn't numb to the fact that Paige still stirred something inside her but hearing it twice in one day really hit her. Sure Spencer was kind of a know it all and liked to make it known but Sabrina, a girl she barely knew, was pointing it out to her as well? Maybe everyone was right. Maybe it was time. So much had happened and so much had driven them apart but things were different now. Maybe the timing was finally right.

She drew in a deep breath as she looked up at The Radley from where she sat in her car. She turned around to the back seat and dug through her things until she found the capris she had borrowed earlier. She slid her hand into the back pocket and pulled out the key card Paige had left for her that morning. She chewed her lip as she looked it over. Maybe all of this craziness had happened for a reason. She returns to Rosewood, gets stuck here, and then Paige suddenly comes sweeping back in? It had to mean something, right? She took another breath then nodded her head. She was sick of wondering. She stepped out of the car, the key card gripped tightly in her hand. It was time to take action and find out once and for all if there was anything left to hold onto.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	3. Sunday

Emily drew in a deep breath as she stared at the shiny metal room number that hung on the door that lead to Paige. She had collected her tips from Ashley then headed right to the elevator. She knew that if she thought about it too much she would back down and probably avoid Paige for the rest of the weekend. So she hadn't let herself get distracted. But now as she stood outside the hotel room, key card in hand, she started to wonder if she really was doing the right thing.

She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. She looked at the key card, then the door handle where she would have to put the key card to open the door, then to the card again. She lifted her hand and saw it was visibly trembling. Her heart was racing in her chest. She wasn't sure she could go in there.

Just as she turned to leave, Paige rounded the corner at the end of the hall. She was still wearing the white tux but had unbuttoned the top couple buttons of the shirt. When her eyes fell onto Emily standing at her door, her face brightened into a wide smile "Hey, stranger."

Emily bit her lip and gave a little wave. She pointed to the door she stood in front of and shrugged "I don't think my key card works."

Paige frowned at that and as she finally reached the door where she stood, she offered a hand out "Here, let me try."

Emily just nodded and handed over the key. She licked her lips and nervously watched Paige slide it into the lock. When the little light on the door turned green to indicate it was unlocked, Paige smiled up at her and handed the card back "There we go. Just needed a little finesse I guess."

Emily watched as Paige pushed the door handle down and drew the door open. She took one step inside the room then leaned back against the door to make plenty of room for Emily to pass by her. She looked back at Emily and when she didn't move, her brows creased together in concern "Are you coming in?"

Emily looked up at Paige and something inside her just clicked. Maybe it was the way Paige looked in that tux because, well, she looked incredible. Maybe it was the nice gesture of opening the door for her, and then holding it open for her. Maybe it was just the smile on her face. Whatever it was, it suddenly turned Emily onto auto pilot and there was no more thinking. It was now just action.

She lunged forward and cupped her hands around Paige's face, pulling her down into a fierce, hungry kiss. Their lips pressed together so hard at first both of them groaned out with a slight bit of pain. It faded quickly though and was replaced with that instinct that took over when someone kissed you.

Emily was relieved to feel Paige immediately return the kiss. Just like that, in that instant of their lips touching, all doubt and fear had been washed away. Nothing remained in her mind except the thought of Paige and the way her lips felt and how her tongue tasted as it swept through her mouth and the way her body curved as Emily's hands slid over her sides.

Paige shivered at the way Emily's hands hungrily roamed over her body. She stood pinned against the open hotel door but she didn't care. Her own body, her own instincts, were now in charge and everything inside her was screaming in relief that they were tangled together in this kiss. She scooped her long arms around Emily's back and pulled her until their chests pressed together so tightly it almost made it hard to breath.

Emily pulled from the kiss to draw breath and her eyes came open. When she was met with Paige's eyes opening in search of hers, she smirked and lunged in to capture her lips again. She pushed herself against Paige more, causing them both to push into the door until it swung as open as it could before slamming into the wall behind it, causing a hole to form. The thunk pulled them from the kiss again and they both looked behind Paige before letting out a laugh at the same time.

"My dad will pay for that" Paige whispered softly, her eyes bright with elation.

"Don't talk about your dad right now" Emily whispered huskily, licking her lips once before pushing them back against Paige's.

Paige let out another moan against the kiss, this one of pleasure and not pain. She moved her hands to Emily's waist, gripping there tightly and using her strength to push Emily's body away from hers. Her back left the door and she slowly guided Emily backwards toward the bed, not wanting to break the kiss as she did so.

Emily didn't fight it. She let Paige push her backwards, taking it as a sign that Paige's desire was coursing through her just as highly as Emily's was. She didn't even think about breaking the kiss and instead slid her arms around Paige's body fully now that she wasn't pinned to the door and held on until they hit the bed.

They didn't hit the bed, though. Instead, because Paige had her eyes closed and was leading Emily blindly backwards, one of Emily's legs was pushed into the bedside table. The force was just hard enough to buckle her knee and cause her to go crashing backwards. Her weight landed hard against the table and her arm, which had reached back in attempt to catch herself, swung into the lamp hanging on the wall near the bed and ripped it clean off it's screws. The two of them fell from the bedside table, onto the side of the mattress, before bouncing off of it and crashing onto the floor together with a loud thud.

Emily groaned as a sharp pain from where her ribs had slammed into the bedside table shot through her back. Paige's hands pushed up against the floor on either side of Emily's hips and she looked down at the girl with a panic on her face "Oh my god, Em, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

Emily lifted a hand to Paige's mouth to cut her off and she let out a laugh. She glanced at the lamp hanging out of the wall by just the wire and back at Paige with a smirk "Your dad will pay for that, too, right?"

Paige laughed and gave a quick nod of her head before leaning into kiss at Emily's forehead just once "Are you alright?"

"Never better" Emily whispered as her hand lifted to trace her fingertips gently along Paige's cheek. She watched the trail her fingers made and as they passed over Paige's lips, she smiled. She leaned up and placed a gentle kiss to the waiting lips before her eyes lifted and met Paige's gaze. They stared into each others eyes for a moment before Emily finally nodded and lifted her head again, this time capturing Paige's lips in another firm kiss.

That was the only communication either of them seemed to have needed. From that point on there was no more questioning or wondering about the other. They fell into a surprisingly comfortable and familiar rhythm without even trying. It really was like riding a bike, you never really forget how no matter how long it had been.

Soon shirts were unbuttoned and slacks unzipped. Neither of them seemed to be too concerned with fully undressing the other. That didn't seem necessary. What mattered was letting go completely of everything else and just being with one another in the moment. Paige's slacks were the first to be pushed down her legs and kicked away. She pulled back from the kiss and smiled down at Emily as she reached now for the waist of the black pants of Emily's uniform and started to move them down her long legs as well.

Emily simply lifted her hips to allow the material to pass off her waist and watched as Paige so carefully took the garment from her body and tossed it behind her. She bit her lip when Paige's hands returned to her now bare legs and slowly slid from her ankle all the way up to her hip. She shivered at the feel. No one had ever touched her the way that Paige does.

Paige knew the shiver wasn't because Emily was cold so she didn't ask. She simply moved back over her, letting her legs come to rest with one between Emily's and one on the outside of her thigh. She slid one arm into Emily's open button up shirt and pulled it around her waist until their stomachs and chests were once more pressed together. Her lips once more dipped and swept Emily's mouth up into a needing kiss.

Emily shivered again. Paige's hands were soft and though her movements were focused and strong they still held a bit of tenderness to them. In that moment, as their nearly bare bodies pressed together and their fingers went about exploring one another, she understood what Sabrina had been saying. She was home.

Emily's hand moved along Paige's back, under the material of her open tux button up top, and down to the waist of the panties she wore. Her fingers dipped inside without hesitation and she traced the waist around her back, over Paige's thin hip bones, and down the crease that lead from her hip to between her legs. Gently her fingertips pushed further, sliding now between Paige's warm, waiting folds. Emily groaned when she felt how wet Paige had become in anticipation of her touch.

Paige's back arched slightly at the touch from Emily. She let out a soft whimper of liking against the kiss but did not break it. Her hips instead pressed into Emily's hand, letting her know to keep going. She wouldn't hesitate now and she hoped that Emily wouldn't either.

Hesitation was the last thing on Emily's mind. When she felt Paige push into her for more, she granted her body just that. Her fingers moved through her folds once more before curling and pushing inside her fiercely. When Paige broke the kiss with a gasp, Emily laughed very softly and started to move her wrist in and out slowly.

Paige's eyes came open when she broke the kiss and she took a moment to compose herself. Her body tingled from head to toe at the feel of Emily inside her. When Emily's eyes finally came open to greet hers, Paige smiled down at her. Again, they didn't need words. The way their eyes locked together said it all. This was everything they had needed, had wanted, and had been missing in their lives. They simply needed one another.

Emily's hand did not speed up, not yet. Though they had started in a fiery hurry she did not want it to end in such. So her hand moved slowly, making each stroke in and out deliberate and precise, watching Paige's face each time her fingers found the spots that drove her wild.

Paige's chest was starting to heave now. Even if Emily was going slow, her body was moving at the speed of light. She didn't want to do this alone. She wanted Emily to come along this journey with her. No, she needed her to. So she quickly brought her thighs together tightly, stilling Emily's movements but not allowing her to pull from within her.

"Are you alright?" Emily breathed out heavily in surprise at the sudden movements from Paige.

"Totally" Paige said with a lick of her lips. She gave Emily a little smirk as her hand worked now to push the material of Emily's panties aside, allowing her fingers to find the heat that had gathered there for her. She bit at her lip and slowly moved the tips of her fingers up and down through Emily's folds a few times.

Emily's back arched up and her eyes snapped shut. She let out a soft grunt and shook her head slightly "You know I've been nothing but nice to you. You really shouldn't tease me."

Paige let out a laugh as she leaned down to place a kiss on Emily's chin before whispering "I thought you liked a little teasing."

"That can come later" Emily grumbled as her hips dropped and her head rolled forward to look at Paige now. Her eyes held a fire and she nearly growled her next words "Please, Paige."

Her name had never sounded so sweet coming off of Emily's lips and she couldn't hold out any longer. She fulfilled her wish and plunged her fingers inside Emily fiercely, jolting both of their bodies with the force of it.

Emily cried out loudly in pleasure as her back arched up again. She paused a moment, letting herself adjust to the feeling of being filled by Paige again before her eyes opened and she looked back up at the girl. Her lips curled into a little smirk and as if she hadn't stopped at all, her wrist started to move again, now with more purpose with each stroke inside of Paige.

A shudder slid up Paige's spine at the reanimation of Emily's fingers inside her. She bit at her lip for just a moment as the sensation washed over her. Once she regained her senses, her own hand went to work. Soon both of them were pushing in and out of the other at a fierce pace. Their bodies moved up and down along the floor where they laid together, their eyes locked on the other as determination mixed with pleasure.

Each thrust got a moan from Emily. Each push inside of Paige caused a heavy breath to be forced out of her. The only sound in the world, it seemed, was the two of them breathing and moaning, letting the other know that every sensation they were granting each other was exactly right. Their bodies were communicating perfectly and each one knew what the other needed to get them over that edge.

Paige trembled first. Her actions wavered just slightly as the chill slid along the back of her thighs and up her spine. She dropped her head against Emily's shoulder and let out a nearly growl. She was trying to focus on her movements and not the pleasure coursing through her veins.

"Breathe" Emily turned her head and whispered against Paige's ear. "Don't hold back for me, okay. I'm almost there."

"Please" Paige grunted as her head lifted off of Emily's shoulder and she stared down at her in desperation.

Emily nodded, giving her a soft smile as her hand continued to move inside her. She lifted her free hand to the back of Paige's head and held her there so she wouldn't look away. "It's okay, I'm right here."

Paige bit at her lip and as much as she wanted to close her eyes and succumb to the sensations coursing through her, she didn't. She held her gaze on Emily and let herself get lost in her eyes. She felt that familiar tingling starting to rise in her legs, her stomach, and her back. She twitched again and another groan left her lips.

There was something powerful about the way Paige was staring so deeply into her eyes. It was as if she were looking straight into her heart. It caused a shiver to move through Emily's body and she knew that if Paige's hand continued on like it was she wouldn't last much longer.

Paige smirked when Emily shivered. She licked at her lips before leaning down to kiss her just once, never breaking the eye contact she held. Her eyes were intense, yet still held a tenderness for the woman under her. Her hand started to move even faster, wanting to bring Emily with her.

Emily almost couldn't handle the way Paige was looking at her. Almost. It took everything inside her not to close her eyes but she didn't. She held on. As Paige's hand moved quickly, with determination, she felt her toes start to curl.

Paige groaned again. Her body was failing her. She wanted to hold on, to keep going, to be stuck in this moment forever, but she knew she couldn't. So she drew in a deep breath, licked her lips, and let herself go. Everything that Emily had done to her, everything she had thought about Emily doing to her, and everything she had been missing from Emily all whirled around inside her until she couldn't take it any longer. Her thighs trembled and her hips twitched as the sensations became too much and she toppled over the edge of pleasure.

Emily gasped at the rush of Paige's release. She let out a soft moan of liking and lifted her own hips up against Paige's, letting the girl ride out her pleasure pressed as tightly against her as she could be. The warmth surrounded Emily's hand, moved down her wrist, and even came to rest against her own hips. There was something about the sensation of that particularity from Paige that drove her absolutely insane.

As Paige's body trembled, her arm continued to move. She wouldn't let herself come down until Emily was with her. She used all the strength and willpower she possessed to push forward, curling her fingers into all of the spots that she remembered Emily liked.

It didn't take long for Emily after that. All of the overwhelming emotions that had been coursing through her since seeing Paige mixed with the sensation of being completely with Paige was all she really needed. It was only a moment or two after Paige's body gave in that her own followed suit. She felt her hips jerk slightly and that was when she finally let everything that had built inside of her go.

Paige still hadn't broken eye contact and when she felt Emily's body starting to topple she was surprised to see Emily keep her eyes open. But it seemed important to the two of them, that they hold that gaze as they lost themselves together. Paige bit at her bottom lip as she watched Emily's face twist in pleasure. She felt the way Emily's body gripped her fingers tightly, the way her hips jerked in no particular pattern, until they finally fell still.

Emily let out a soft, long moan before letting her body completely relax. She laid there just a few moments under Paige before she found strength again. Her hand finally slid from inside her and she lifted both arms around Paige tightly. She lifted her head and captured her lips in another intense kiss, this one softer and lighter than before but lacking absolutely no passion.

Paige moaned into the kiss, enjoying the lightness of it as their bodies slowly came down together. It was a minute or two later that the kiss was breaking and she was finally sliding her fingers from within Emily. She smiled down at the girl, lifting her other hand to gently brush some of Emily's hair from her sweaty brow. "Well that was unexpected."

Emily let out a laugh and turned her head to kiss at Paige's palm before looking back up at her. She gave her head a shake and let out a satisfied sigh "Was it really?"

"Unexpected can be good!" Paige said with a soft laugh. She kissed at her forehead then slowly moved to lower herself so she was laying on the floor next to Emily. She propped herself up on her elbow, holding her chin on her hand as her other hand slid up Emily's body and came to rest on her stomach. She stared down at her for a moment before biting her lip and laughing again.

"What?" Emily asked, unable to wipe the smile her face held.

Paige just shook her head as she grinned "Life is funny sometimes is all."

Emily gave a tired nod and rolled onto her side to face Paige now. She slid one arm into the dangling open shirt that still clung to Paige's body somehow and used the other arm to hold herself up. She didn't say anything. She simply let her fingertips moved gently over Paige's skin, soaking in the warmth as she re-familiarized herself with her body. Her eyes lingered on Paige's form in front of her as if she were trying to burn the sight of her skin into her brain.

Paige watched Emily looking at her. She held a soft smile on her lips as Emily studied her. It wasn't until Emily's fingers brushed over her hip bone that she finally made a noise that sounded like a soft laugh and reached down to stop Emily's hand from moving against her skin "You know I'm ticklish right there."

Emily bit her lip and looked up at Paige with as much fake innocence as she could manage "I forgot."

"Bullshit" Paige mumbled with an amused smirk on her lips. She pulled Emily's hand off of her skin completely and lifted the fingertips to her lips, kissing at them lightly. "I forgive you, though."

"If you didn't I would just pin you down and tickle you until you did" Emily said with a devilish smirk on her face.

"Good luck with that. You only have one hand!" Paige teased, nipping with her teeth at the fingertips of Emily's hand she still gripped onto.

"It's all I need" Emily growled out playfully before shifting her weight and using her body to her advantage. She used one long leg to wrap around Paige and shifted quickly so she was now sitting on top of Paige's hips, causing her to roll back onto the floor and effectively pinning her there. Sitting now on top of her with a triumphant smirk, she used her free hand to playfully push the material of the open button up shirt completely out of the way so Paige laid there with no protection around her stomach and waist. She wiggled her fingers of her free hand just above Paige's hips, her eyes locked on the girl in a challenging way "What are you going to do now, huh?"

Paige bit her lip, fighting off a laugh because Emily looked so completely adorable and totally not threatening sitting on top of her like that. The white button up uniform shirt had fallen now and gathered around Emily's elbows. If she straightened her arms the shirt would slide off her body completely. She absolutely looked like she had just had sex and Paige thought it was hysterical and was having a hard time taking her seriously. So she just gave a bored shrug and smirked "You don't scare me."

Emily almost looked offended at that. She gasped and sat up a little straighter, causing the material of her shirt to slide down her back and into her elbows even more. "How rude" She smirked and jabbed her fingers now into Paige's waist where she knew she was ticklish.

Paige howled out immediately. She bucked her hips up, trying like a bull would to toss it's rider from on top of it. It didn't work though and Emily giggled as she dug in further, wiggling her fingers around and tickling Paige even more.

Emily watched in delight as Paige squirmed and fought off laughter, trying to get away from the assault of her fingers. In the chaos of having been tickled, Paige had released Emily's other hand and that now moved to the other side of Paige's waist to join it's partner in the assault. That's when Emily's eyes fell to watch where her fingers dug into the skin and caught sight of something she had not expected. As quickly as she had started to assault, she stopped and pulled her hands away. She stared for a moment then looked at Paige, tilting her head to the side with a curious look on her face "What's this?"

Paige, who was able to quickly catch her breath once the tickling had stopped, looked up at Emily then followed her eyes down to where she was looking near her waist. She smiled slightly and sat up on her elbows so she could see exactly what Emily was seeing. She shrugged then looked back at the girl who was now sitting on her thighs "What does it look like to you?"

"It looks like a tattoo" Emily said with a laugh as her finger reached out to touch at the obviously inked skin.

"Look at you go. A regular Sherlock Holmes" Paige teased, watching Emily's finger trace the design that had been etched into her skin a few years prior.

Emily shook her head, letting out a laugh of disbelief as her finger moved over the colors that shone up at her from Paige's waist "I would have never thought in a million years that Paige McCullers would get a tattoo."

Paige shrugged and gave her a playful little smirk "I went through a wild phase in college, I guess."

Emily rolled her eyes and looked away from the tattoo for the first time since seeing it. She looked at Paige and gave her head a shake "It's for me, isn't it?"

"Uh" Paige's lips hung open for a moment as the sound left her mouth. She stared at the tattoo looking up at her and decided not to lie. What was the point of lying now anyway? The less she hid, the better. So she just nodded and looked back to Emily "Yeah, it is."

Emily's smile was shy but also flattered. She bit at her lip and looked back down at the ink. Her finger slowly traced over the design once more before she let out a soft sigh and looked back up at Paige "It's beautiful."

Paige smiled almost shyly now. She had definitely never thought Emily would be seeing the tattoo. If she ever did, she thought she would have more time to explain herself and why she had gotten it. She was glad, however, that even though it had come as a surprise to Emily that she didn't seem mad or put off by it at all. "You've always been my anchor, you know?"

Emily gave a crooked little smile and looked back down at the tattoo. Her finger traced the shape of the small anchor before following the lines that made out the ropes that wrapped around it. It was subtle and yet Emily had known without a doubt that the ink was for her. She didn't know how she had known. She just had. "Don't anchors hold things down?"

Paige let out a soft laugh and reached out now to grab Emily's hand that was tracing the tattoo. She dropped back onto her back against the floor and pulled at Emily until her body followed suit and laid on top of her. Once they were settled, Paige slid her arms around Emily's back and shook her head "It's a metaphor, dingleberry. You've always kept me grounded. Kept me in the place I needed to be. You never let me drift too far away. Plus..." She leaned up and kissed Emily's cheek softly before settling her head back against the floor with a smile on her lips "You were quite literally the anchor of every race we ever swam together so there's that, too."

"Oh god" Emily rolled her eyes at that with a laugh. Paige could be completely dorky sometimes and she absolutely adored it. She moved to slide off of Paige and lay next to her on the floor. Her head came to rest against Paige's chest and her hand once more moved down to the tattoo. Her fingers rested against the ink and her eyes closed as her body relaxed into Paige's arms. She let out a happy sigh then whispered very softly "I don't think I've ever stopped loving you. Not for a single second."

Paige's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when Emily's words reached her ears. Her eyes closed and the arm she had looped around Emily gave a tight squeeze. She wasn't even sure this moment was real. She had to squeeze Emily just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The feel of their bodies pressing together somehow acted like a pinch and she knew she wasn't dreaming. That had really just left Emily Fields' lips. She licked at her lips and looked down at the top of Emily's head, nodding just once the best she could with how she laid against the floor "Me neither."

Emily shifted so she could lift her head just enough to find Paige's lips. The kiss was soft, tender, and almost so light it couldn't be felt. But it was enough. It was like a cherry on top of a perfect ice cream sundae. As the kiss broke and her head moved to rest against Paige's chest again, her eyes once more closed. In that moment, nothing could be wrong. Nothing was wrong. Nothing else in the world even existed except that moment. She wished she could disappear into that moment for the rest of her life. She had never felt more safe, more centered, or more complete than she did right then. Though she knew the feeling wouldn't last she would make sure to enjoy every second that it did.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Emily let out a soft groan as her body started to stir from sleep. She didn't even remember falling asleep. But it was obvious now as the stiffness in her joints had set in that she had done so on the floor because she was definitely in pain. She let out a yawn and lifted her head from where it was still resting against Paige's chest and slowly opened her eyes.

The light from the window lent no real tell of what time it was. It was early, she knew that because of the gentle stream of sun through the curtains that hung in the hotel room but that was about it. She yawned again and pushed herself up until she was sitting and gave a look around the room. A smile came to her lips as her eyes took in the discarded pants, the broken lamp dangling on the wall, and the hole behind the door. The night before flooded back to her and she bit her lip to fight the smile from growing.

She turned now to look at Paige who still lay there peacefully sleeping on the floor. She leaned down to kiss her cheek before gently lifting herself now to her feet. She pulled the button up that she somehow still had on around herself tightly and moved to the bathroom. She had to pee and hoped she wouldn't wake Paige in the process.

As she finished up in the bathroom, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She looked like a complete mess. Her hair was in shambles and the mascara she had worn the day before was smudged all around her eyes. She laughed softly and gave her head a shake. She would just wash it off in the shower later in the day.

She moved out of the bathroom and was glad to see Paige still on the floor. She moved over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of it, maneuvering it until it covered Paige where she lay. She was chilly herself when she woke up so she could only imagine Paige must be cold as well. Once she was covered up, Emily moved over to the closet to once more rummage through Paige's clothing.

She found a hoodie and some shorts and slid them on before moving now to the bed. She lifted the room service menu out of the drawer and looked it over. She wondered if Paige was as hungry as she was. Her stomach was grumbling so loudly she was surprised Paige hadn't heard it and woken up.

As she perused the menu, she got up from the bed and walked over to where she had dropped her purse. She kept her eyes on the food choices the hotel had while her hand dove into her purse in search of her phone. Once she found it and pulled it out, her eyes left the menu and she looked at the screen. There were fifteen missed calls and several dozen texts from her friends.

"Shit" Emily dropped the menu on the floor, it landing with a thud near Paige's feet. She quickly opened her call log and hit redial of the last number that had tried to call her, which happened to be Spencer. She quietly opened the door to the room and slipped out into the hallway, closing the door lightly behind her as she waited for her friend to answer.

"Where the Hell are you?" Spencer answered with a growl at the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry, Spence. I worked late last night and crashed at-"

"Whatever" Spencer cut her off, annoyance in her tone. "Just get over to the loft asap. We have a lot to discuss."

"Is everything okay?" Emily's tone now dripped with worry.

"No, obviously. Get over here" Spencer hung up after that.

Emily frowned and looked at the screen of her phone as the call ended. She rolled her eyes and gave her head a shake. How Spencer hadn't already had a stroke was beyond her. She was so damn high strung.

She turned now to go back into the room only to realize the door had clicked closed and she was locked out. She groaned softly and lifted her hand to knock. She had definitely not wanted to wake up Paige but now she had no choice. Her shoes and purse and keys were in there.

It took a few more knocks before Paige heard them. She blinked her eyes open and turned her head toward the source of the sound. When she realized Emily wasn't beside her, she sat up from the floor and yawned loudly "Coming!" She called out so the knocks would cease. That's when she realized she was still barely clothed and probably shouldn't answer the door like that in case her family was out in the hallway.

She wrapped the blanket that had been laid over her around herself tightly and moved to the door. She opened it just enough to peek outside and when she saw Emily there, looking disheveled and in her hoodie, she smiled. She let out a laugh and pulled the door completely open now "Well good morning, sunshine."

Emily rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile that came from simply seeing Paige. She moved into the room and over toward where her purse had been dropped the night before "I'm sorry I woke you up. How did you sleep?"

"Better than I have in years" Paige said honestly. She moved to sit on the edge of the bed, watching as Emily gathered her things in a rush. She frowned and gave her head a shake "Where you going? You weren't trying to sneak out on me, were you?"

"No, of course not" Emily breathed out in frustration as she slid the strap of her purse over her shoulder and stood upright from where she had been crouching to gather her things. She turned to look at Paige all wrapped up in the blanket and sitting there looking at her sleepily and her heart melted a little. She looked really cute. "Something has come up. Apparently Spencer and the girls have been trying to call me all night. I have to go meet up with them."

"Okay, but here's a thought" Paige stood now. She dropped the blanket that she had wrapped around her, leaving her standing in her panties and unbuttoned shirt. "You look like you're totally doing the walk of shame" She smirked, motioning to the state of Emily's hair and make up. "How about you take a shower first. I'll order us some breakfast. You can take it in the car with you and eat it on the way there. But clean yourself up a little. Do you really want to walk into the loft looking like that?" Paige motioned again to her and smiled "I mean I, personally, love this look but I'm sure your friends will have more questions than they have answers for you if you march in there looking like that."

Emily looked down over herself. Paige was right. She had seen herself in the mirror, she looked awful. Plus the last thing she needed was her friends scolding her for not being available in the middle of a crisis. She rolled her eyes at the thought. Spencer would scold her. Aria and Hanna would probably congratulate her for getting laid. She finally looked up at Paige and nodded "You're right. I can take ten minutes to shower."

"Good" Paige said with a nod. She moved to slide an arm around Emily now and pull her until they came to rest against each other. She leaned in and gently kissed at her lips "Good morning" She whispered before kissing her again.

Emily melted into Paige. Somehow in the midst of chaos and crisis Paige was able to swoop in and kiss her and make her completely forget everything else in the world. She really was the only one that could ever really make any sense out of anything for Emily. She let herself enjoy the soft kisses before finally pushing away and laughing "If you don't stop, my shower definitely won't be only ten minutes."

Paige smirked, her eyebrows dancing on her forehead suggestively "What if that was my evil plan all along?"

Emily rolled her eyes and gave Paige a light shove "Control yourself, McCullers."

"You look really good in my clothes, I can't help it" Paige said playfully, swatting at Emily's as she shoved by toward the bathroom. She watched her go, smirking at the fact that Emily didn't bother to close the door before starting the shower and beginning to strip out of the clothes she had borrowed.

Emily glanced behind her once she had shed the clothing. She saw Paige watching her and rolled her eyes. She kind of loved how easily she could get Paige's attention. All she had to do was show a little skin. She stepped one foot into the shower then paused and looked back at Paige "Well?"

Paige's eyes lit up. She nearly fell over her feet as she rushed into the bathroom. Her arms slid around Emily's naked body and pushed her into the shower in one swift motion. She didn't care that her panties and the tux shirt were still on. Clothes could dry, right?

Emily squeaked out as she was pushed against the wall of the shower. She let out a laugh and moved her hands quickly to start peeling at the shirt that was already sticking to Paige's skin after being soaked by the shower "You'll ruin your shirt."

"It's a rental anyway" Paige whispered, leaning in to capture Emily's lips in a soft kiss.

Emily giggled against the kiss as her hands worked and she was finally able to free Paige of the soaked shirt. She tossed it out of the shower then quickly worked on the panties that clung to Paige's legs for dear life. It was a task, taking off soaking wet clothing, but Emily finally managed and once the panties dropped to Paige's feet her hands moved to roam freely over Paige's completely bare form now. As they stood there under the water stream, lips tangled together in a kiss, their wet bodies pressed together tightly she knew the shower was going to be much longer than ten minutes. Oh well. Spencer and the girls had waited all night, they could wait a little longer, right?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

When both Emily and Paige showed up at the loft together, forty-five minutes after Emily had called Spencer, the girls all fought off a knowing little smirk. Spencer fought off complete agitation at the situation but Aria and Hanna both kind of bit back a laugh and just kind of pretended like it was a normal get together.

The next hour or so was like a complete whirlwind of information. Spencer and Mona, who had made a special trip to the loft to share everything she had learned, went over the information they had. They had figured out what Noel was doing back in town, why he was working with Jenna, and where he had been going in the laundry truck. They had actually figured out a lot, mostly because Mona had a penchant for snooping, and was now laying it all out there for the girls.

By the end of it, everyone in the loft looked a little wide in the eyes. Paige stood in the kitchen of the loft, standing over the coffee pot. She had volunteered to refill everyone's coffee in preparation for what they all had to get done that day. Aria and Spencer were huddled over the coffee table going over some details and Hanna was leaning against the counter in the kitchen with all of the cups lined up, ready for refill.

Hanna waited until Emily had slipped away to the bathroom before looking over at Paige. She smirked slightly at the girl and waited until Paige realized she was being stared at. When Paige lifted an eyebrow at her in questioning, Hanna gave her a wide grin "So?"

"So?" Paige's eyebrow perked a little more and she let out a laugh as she moved to the fridge to get some creamer.

Hanna leaned her head onto her hand and held the grin on her lips as she watched Paige move back and start to pour cream into each cup "I couldn't help but notice Emily was wearing a Stanford hoodie this morning. Now, I only know one person here who went to Stanford."

Paige let out a soft laugh and her eyes rolled before she gave Hanna an amused smirk "Good to see you're still as subtle as always there, Han."

Hanna rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. She looked over toward the bathroom to make sure Emily hadn't returned. She looked back to Paige when the coast was still clear and shrugged "Come on, you have to dish! What is going on with you two?"

Paige glanced up at Hanna from where she was now pouring the steaming coffee into the cups and gave her a coy little smirk before shrugging "I have no idea what you mean."

"Oh, please" Hanna let out a soft laugh. "You both show up together, late, with wet hair?" She perked an eyebrow suspiciously at Paige "I might be blonde but I'm not an airhead."

Paige just shrugged. She looked up and noticed that Emily had come back out of the bathroom and was moving to settle on the couch next to Spencer. Emily looked up and caught Paige looking at her and immediately smiled. This made Paige smile too as she looked back at Hanna. She shook her head, fighting the smile on her lips before she lifted Hanna's cup of coffee toward her "It's whatever."

Hanna let out a frustrated sigh and took the cup of coffee from Paige. She also grabbed Aria's and turned to take it back toward the couch. She sat down the cups on the coffee table and plopped down next to Aria before shrugging "Alright, guys, Paige isn't spilling. I tried."

"What?" Paige let out a loud laugh as she moved over to the table with the cups of the remaining girls. She handed Emily her cup, then handed one to Spencer, before settling on the couch at the end and shrugging her shoulders. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Hanna."

"Oh please" Aria, Spencer, and Hanna all said at once. They glanced at each other when they did so and started to laugh before Spencer finally looked at Emily, then Paige, and shook her head "You two are so not sneaky!"

Emily blushed slightly and glanced at Paige over the top of her coffee mug where she had been taking a sip. Paige, on the other hand, just shrugged at the girls and smiled "Are you really concerned with what Em and I do in our spare time or are we focusing on Noel and Jenna?"

Aria waved her hand to the side and let out a laugh "You heard Mona, we can't do anything until she calls us. So what else are we supposed to talk about?"

Paige looked at Emily and let out a laugh. She motioned with her hand toward the girls and shrugged "Do you have anything to say or am I taking all the bullets here?"

Emily bit her lip softly, letting out a soft laugh as she settled her coffee in her hands. She looked at her friends and shrugged "I've learned that if I ignore their questions long enough they get distracted and move on."

"That's not true" Hanna said with a laugh. "Not when we have nothing else to talk about."

"If that's the case, plan B is to always change the subject" Emily said with a nod. She motioned to Aria and shrugged "Did you hear Ezra proposed to her?"

"Em!" Aria's eyes got wide and she looked panicked. Spencer and Hanna both looked surprised and it was obvious neither of them knew. She looked around and saw all eyes on her and let out a sigh. "I wasn't going to say anything until I knew what I wanted to say to him but, yeah, he did."

"Oh my god" Spencer lit up with a smile for her friend. "Congratulations!"

"Yeah, congrats" Paige said with a genuine grin on her lips.

"That's great" Hanna said with a nod. She then turned and looked at Paige and grinned widely "So do you think you'll propose to Em now that you two are back on?"

"Oh..." Paige dropped her face into her hand "...my...God." She mumbled, laughing softly.

Emily blushed and gave Hanna an eye roll "Will you stop?"

Hanna gave a playful grin and shrug, laughing softly "You can't distract me. I wanna know what's going on with you two."

"Fine" Emily threw up her hands in defeat and looked at her friends. She huffed out a sigh and nodded "Yeah, whatever..." She looked up at Paige and smiled "Something happened but now you've all gone and made it awkward because we hadn't talked about it."

Paige bit her lip and reached out to slide her hand over Emily's shoulder. "It's okay, Em. They just have your best interest in mind." She shrugged and gave a smile "We'll talk."

Hanna bit her lip. She now genuinely felt bad. She glanced at Aria and Spencer and frowned before she looked back at Paige and Emily "Sorry."

"It's fine" Paige said with a nod. "There are more important things going on, right?"

As if on cue, Spencer's phone went off. Her eyes went wide when she saw it was Mona and quickly she answered it. She listened intently at whatever it was the girl on the other end was saying and after a few minutes she nodded and hung up. She drew in a deep breath and looked at the girls with a slightly worried look. She licked at her lips and shrugged slightly "It's time to go."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Paige tapped her fingertips against the steering wheel of the car. They had been parked in their assigned spot for what felt like days but in reality it had only been about an hour. She glanced over to Emily in the passenger side seat and smiled softly as her hand moved to take hold of Emily's hand gently "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Emily perked an eyebrow, surprised that Paige had broken the silence but it hadn't scared her. She smiled and turned her hand over so her fingers to slide through Paige's gently.

"For that really awkward conversation that happened in the loft" Paige let out a laugh but it held less amusement and more annoyance. She knew that her friends meant well but she definitely had wished that Emily and her could have talked first before being put on the spot like that.

Emily just shrugged and gave Paige's hand a squeeze "My friends mean well."

"I know" Paige said softly, her eyes still on the road that they were watching from where they were parked. "That doesn't mean it was right. Plus I would have really preferred we actually got to talk first."

"What do you want to talk about?" Emily asked with a slight smile on her lips.

Paige rolled her eyes and shook her head with a laugh "Oh, okay. Did I imagine last night, and this morning, or what?"

Emily smirked and gave Paige's arm a little playful nudge with her elbow "Trust me, you did not imagine that. What I meant, was, what is there to talk about really?"

The sound that Paige made was a mix of exasperation and despair. She shook her head and finally looked over at Emily with a slight frown "This is serious, Em."

"I know" Emily frowned at having upset Paige. She lifted both of her hands now and cupped at Paige's face. She leaned in and touched a kiss to her lips and when she pulled back and met her eyes with a soft gaze "I know it's serious, okay? But I thought you were all easy breezy now. I didn't want to put too much into this and stress the both of us out."

Paige nodded, letting out a soft sigh as she stared into Emily's eyes. Her touch, her tone, and her gaze was soothing in the moment. She licked her lips and whispered softly "I don't want this to just be a thing that happens and then we go our separate ways again. I'm kind of over that, Em."

Emily gave a nod. She licked at her lips but didn't interrupt. She wanted Paige to know that she was listening and understanding.

Paige drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. "Come to Colorado with me? I've been training at the Olympic center there. The games are at the end of the summer and I want you there. You can get a job anywhere, Em. You can finish college there, too. They have a lot of great schools in town." She smiled softly and reached out to grab onto one of Emily's hand, holding it tightly between the both of hers "Let's finally do this. Let's build the life together we've always wanted."

Emily's stomach was doing flips with each word Paige spoke. The intense look in her eyes, the steady tone of her words, and the way she never wavered in her words really touched Emily in a way she had never experienced. Her hand trembled where it was held between Paige's and she drew in a deep breath. She held it for a moment, her eyes never looking away from Paige's. She was serious. She really wanted to do this and she wanted Emily to come along with her. Emily suddenly felt like if she said no that this would be the end of all of her chances to make it right with Paige.

She finally released the breath she had been holding and licked her lips. She gave a very soft smile and nodded "I would love nothing more than to disappear with you and never have to look back to Rosewood, Paige." She bit her lip to fight off her growing smile at the thought "It's what we've always wanted. It's been all I've ever thought about since hearing you were going to Stanford."

Paige drew in a breath. She was trying to calm herself. She didn't want to get her hopes up but as Emily continued to speak she couldn't help but smile. It sounded like a yes.

Emily bit her lip and her smile faded a little. Her brows creased and she shook her head "But look at where we are, Paige." She motioned with her free hand around the car to the city that they sat in waiting to follow someone who was blackmailing them. She let out an exhausted sounded sigh and shrugged "I can't just leave right now."

Paige shook her head as her smile fell. She dropped Emily's hand from between hers and lifted her hands to cup at her face. Her fingers slid over her cheeks and she whispered now firmly "No, don't say no Emily. This won't be the case forever. We're so close to having it all be over. Just come with me when it's done. Leave it all behind and forget it all happened."

Emily couldn't help it as tears started to pour from her eyes. She had absolutely thought that Paige would be crushed but here she was putting up with the answer she was given and making it sound fixable. She was standing up for what she wanted, what they both wanted, and not letting Emily bury herself in excuses anymore. She bit at her lip and lifted a hand to grab at one of Paige's wrists, squeezing tightly "I'm so if this doesn't work out? What if we go to jail?"

Paige shook her head quickly again. Her thumbs started passing over Emily's cheeks to sweep up the tears that had started to stream down her face "We'll figure it out, Em, I promise. We've been through so much together that I can't, no I won't, let stuff like this keep us apart anymore." Her voice strengthened in conviction with every word she spoke "It's our time, Em. No matter how this turns out, no matter where you end up because of it all, it is our time to make it work and I will do whatever it takes."

Emily nearly broke down. She wasn't sure what she had done to deserve Paige in her life, over and over again, without her strength or love ever wavering toward her. She bit at her lip and drew in a deep breath and as she continued to fight off tears she managed to give Paige a smile "Are you sure about that?"

Paige let out a soft laugh and her face lit up in a bit of amusement and adoration for the girl sitting with her in that car. She nodded and leaned in to kiss at her lips just once before pulling back and offering her a wide, happy smile "I've been sure about that since I was twelve, Em."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

~Six months later~

Emily groaned as she pulled her scarf around her more tightly. The wind was blowing fiercely in her face as she walked from one class to the other. She had forgotten how much she hated winter. As much as she loved Christmas, she hated winter and that is why she had chosen warm places to live during her college years.

Just as she hit the door of the building where her next class was held, her phone went off. She stepped into the warm lobby and pulled off her gloves. She dug into the pocket of her big puffy coat and pulled out her phone. She smiled when she saw the caller and put the phone to ear "There you are."

"Hey, you" Paige said from the other end of the phone, the smile on her face could be heard in her voice. "How's school?"

"I had to leave my nice warm bed to come to class. You tell me how you think it is?" Emily grumbled playfully.

Paige laughed against the phone "Do I hear a little hostility in your tone? I thought you were a morning person."

"Says the girl that gets to wake up in sunshine and get pampered every day" Emily mumbled flatly.

"I wish I was in the middle of the blizzard with you, trust me" Paige said with a sigh. "But the tour is almost done."

Emily nodded as she moved down the hallway toward her next class "When you're done being a hot shot gold medal winner can we leave Colorado behind forever?"

"Absolutely" Paige said without hesitation. "I mean, until 2020, at least."

Emily smiled at the thought. "I will take three years of warmth where I can get it."

Paige smiled softly, nodding against the phone "You only have until this spring before you're finished with school, you know? After that we will go where ever you want to go."

Emily smiled, letting out a happy sigh. She stopped just outside her next class and glanced at her phone before putting it back to her ear "How about Greece?"

"That sounds perfect" Paige said with a nod.

"I have to go to class" Emily said with a frown.

"I know" Paige nodded. "My interview is about to start anyway."

"I love you" Emily whispered, smiling as she spoke. It still gave her butterflies that she and Paige were doing this. That they were actually succeeding and happy.

"I love you" Paige replied with a happy sigh. "Go learn something."

Emily nodded against her phone and bit at her lip "Call me when you're done?"

"Of course" Paige whispered softly.

Emily nodded against the phone before pulling it away from her ear. She looked at her screen and gave a dreamy smile. She missed Paige but she was more proud of her than words could say. She had won an Olympic gold medal and was now traveling around the country talking to every press outlet there was about it. She knew the excitement from the country would die down soon and Paige would be able to return to her normal life with her. They had waited since they were sixteen to have a normal life together, she could wait a few more months.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


End file.
